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Idunʹa or Idunʹ

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Daughter of the dwarf Svald, and wife of Bragi. She kept in a box the golden apples which the gods tasted as often as they wished to renew their youth. Loki on one occasion stole the box and hid it in a wood; but the gods compelled him to restore it. (Scandinavian mythology.)

⁂ Idūna seems to personify the year between March and September, when the sun is north of the equator. Her apples indicate fruits generally. Loki carries her off to Giant-Land, when the Sun descends below the equator, and he steals her apples. In time, Iduna makes her escape, in the form of a sparrow, when the Sun again, in March, rises above the equator; and both gods and men rejoice in her return.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Ides
Idiom
Idiosyncrasy
Idiot
Idle Lake
Idle Wheel
Idle Worms
Idleness
Idol Shepherd (The)
Idomeneus
Iduna or Idun
Ifakins
Ifreet or Afreet or Afrit
Ifurin
Igerna, Igerne, or Igrayne
Ignaro
Ignatius (St.)
Ignatius Loyola
Igneous Rocks
Ignis Fatuus
Ignoramus