This scene of Norse mythology was sculpted by Friedrich Wilhelm Engelhard (1813–1902) and photographed by Ernst Alpers (c. 1828 – 1900). Standing in the center of the scene is the goddess, Idunn (also spelled Idun or, in this case, Iduna), depicted with an armful of apples in front of the seated god, Odin, and his winged Valkyries. Idunn was the wife of the poet-god, Bragi, and she was also an influential and important goddess in her own right. She embodied concepts such as fertility, youthfulness, spring and vitality. Her most important role in the pantheon of Norse gods was cultivating and guarding a crop of magical apples that, when eaten, restored the gods to a state of youth and perpetuated their godly immortality. Snorri Sturluson (c. 1179-1241), an Icelandic poet, scholar and chieftain, wrote of Idunn in the following terms: “’How should Idunn be referred to?’ ‘Call her the wife of Bragi and the guardian of the apples, these apples being a remedy for old age used by the Æsir.” (Prose Edda, Skaldskaparmal, chapter 10). He elaborated further on Idunn in commentary about the poet-god, Bragi, stating, “[Bragi’s] wife is Idunn. In her private wooden box she keeps the apples which the gods bite into when they begin to grow old. They all become young again, and so it will be right up to Ragnarok” (Snorri Sturluson, Prose Edda, Gylfaginning, chapter 26). Due to Idunn’s pivotal role in the court of Odin and the gods, she naturally became the target of plots and schemes. The most famous of these incidents was when the giant, Thjazi, abducted Idunn with the assistance of unscrupulous Loki, momentarily depriving the gods of their youthfulness. Thankfully, the gods were able to compel Loki to right his wrong by using his shapeshifting prowess to snatch Idunn back from the giants and return her—and her apples—to safety. It is this goddess, Idunn, and her apples of immortality that Friedrich Wilhelm Engelhard and Ernst Alpers depict in their art.
Written by C. Keith Hansley
Sources:
- The Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson, translated by Jesse Byock. New York: Penguin Classics, 2005.
- https://www.britannica.com/topic/Idun
- https://www.germanicmythology.com/works/EngelhardEddaPanorama.html
- https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/107Q51#full-artwork-details
