Who Is Idunn?

Idunn, the goddess of youth

The mythological heritage of mankind is an endless source of inspiration for people around the globe; countless legends and remarkable characters were forged in the minds of men and imprinted in pantheons worldwide. But few of them are as intriguing — as mysterious, and yet as oddly familiar — as Idunn (Iðunn in the original spelling), the Norse goddess of youth and springing life.

As in the case of many other Norse mythological characters, relatively little information survives about Idunn. She is mentioned extensively by only two surviving works, the Poetic Edda, a 13th century compilation of earlier materials, and the Prose Edda, a 13th century work by the great Icelandic scholar, Snorri Sturluson. It is this latter work that enlightens us with regards to Idunn’s role among the Norse gods. Other old materials only mention her in passing, and without any substantial information — oftentimes, all that is mentioned is her name, .

Idunn is the keeper of an eski — a box made of ash wood, a tree of special significance in Norse mythology — in which she stores a special kind of apples: the apples which give gods eternal life. Eating these apples restores youth to the gods who bite from them, and Idunn’s good faith and care is essential to the survival of the world as we know it. The strength of Thor, the wisdom of Odin — all depend on access to this wondrous gift. In fact, the same Poetic Edda recounts an instance when disaster nearly struck, as Idunn was kidnapped by the giant Thjazi, with Loki’s assistance. The gods grew old and grey, and it is only through the same Loki’s cunning and inventivity that Idunn and her treasure are brought back to the world of gods, Asgard.

This is, by and large, all we know about Idunn. It is not much, but it is enough for us to get at least a glimpse of her character. Similarities with a number of other characters in the religion of other Indo-European people (most notably, the Celts) suggest that she is a figure of remarkable age. There is little doubt of her role as a “goddess of youth” — and in fact at least one scholar (John Lindow) believes that her name literally means “ever young”. Through the symbolism of the apple, she is associated with fertility, growth — but also subtly, in H.E. Davidson’s interpretation, with renewal and the rekindling of life and death, an interpretation that is further consistent with her being the wife of Bragi, the late, but nonetheless important Norse god of poetry. It is unlikely that the box in which she keeps the apples is mere coincidence, too: the wood of the ash tree is the material from which the first man was fashioned, and his name — Askr — literally means “ash tree”. In a way, Idunn nourishes the very essence, the core of the fabric of life.

Why Idunn?

Just like the Norse goddess, THIS Idunn nourishes the very fabric of business excellence. From research to strategy and implementation, Idunn has all the “apples” a business needs to grow and remain a market leader for a very long time.