Loki is beautiful, playful and cunning but also deceitful. He has a moody nature and breaks the norms of the Vikings as well as the laws of nature by changing sex and transforming himself into different animals. In the Nordic mythology the gods and giants kept an eye on each other and with one foot in both worlds, it was often Loki who both upset and re-established the balance of power.
Idun’s apples
Idun’s apples kept the gods eternally young and strong. The gods were not immortal, but thanks to her apples, they at least stopped aging.
One evening Odin, Loki and Höner were sitting under a tree by a campfire, feasting on an ox. The giant Tjatse, who often flew around in his eagle suit to scout the Aesir, caught sight of them. Tjatse managed to snatch some of the most delicious pieces of meat which made Loki furious. He hit the eagle with a large tree branch. But he shouldn’t have done that. The giant grabbed Loki with his strong eagle claws and flew off with him. Loki’s body slammed into both trees and mountains and he whined loudly and begged to be released. During his visits to Asgaard, Tjatse had taken a liking to Idun, and not until Loki had promised to abduct and bring her to the giant, was he let down on the ground.
When Loki returned to Asgaard, he immediately searched for Idun. She was just about to set out to hand out her magic apples and Loki asked if he could join her. But instead of taking the usual route, he tricked Idun out on another path. He told her he had seen strange apples inside the woods that she probably wanted to see and that she should bring her apples to compare. In the woods Tjatse was waiting in his eagle suit and he took a firm grip on Idun and flew off with both her and her apples to Trymheim.
Without Idun’s apples, the gods quickly began to age and weaken. The Aesir held ting and it soon came to light that Idun had last been seen with Loki. When it became clear to the gods that Loki was behind her disappearance, he was given a choice; pay with his life or bring her back home.
Loki borrowed Freya’s falcon cloak and flew to Jotunheim to look for Idun. Tjatse was out fishing when he got there and luckily the giants hadn’t had time to eat all the apples. Quickly, Loki transformed Idun into a nut and flew home with her in his beak. But Tjatse caught sight of him and although Loki was disguised as a bird, he immediately recognized him and went after him.
In Asgaard, the gods were waiting for them, and at the walls of Asgaard they had erected long shavings of wood. As soon as Loki flew over, they set fire to the shavings. The flames made Tjatse´s feathers catch fire and the wings burned up, forcing Tjatse to the ground. There Thor and his hammer were waiting for him and with a single blow finished him off.
To remember the giant, Thor threw his eyes up into the sky where some say they turned into stars. Others say that they turned into sun and moon.
