When the world was still young, there came a summer when a handsome young man, who played a golden harp and sang sweetly, came to Asgard by boat. As he drew nearer, the Aesir heard him and gathered at the Bifrost Bridge to meet him. Before the minstrel reached the bridge, the earth opened before him and out emerged a young maiden carrying a casket of gold. The minstrel reached out his hand, and took her hands in his, and together they came to the bridge, hand in hand.

The minstrel introduced himself as Bragi, son of Odin and Gunnlod, during Odin's stay in the treasure chamber while getting the mead of poetry. The maiden with him was his bride to be, Iduna, and she held in her golden caskets the Apples of Youth, which she would give to the Aesir. Odin, by his powers of divination, had known of their arrival, and welcomed them into Asgard.

So their wedding took place that day and that evening, and every evening thereafter. She would move about gracefully giving a single apple to each of the Aesir, for her basket of apples was never exhausted.

Loki, who remembered his promise to the Storm Giant Thiassi, lured Iduna out one day, tricking her in her pure innocence that there were better apples then hers, that she could collect for the Aesir. When she came out to look for the apples the next day, a giant eagle swept down and carried her into the land of the giants, Jotunheim, where she was kept in a high tower until she gave the Apples of Youth to the storm giant.

No one in Asgard knew what had happened to Iduna. Bragi grew sad and depressed at the loss of his wife. The Aesir felt age sinking in with the loss of Iduna's apples. It took a while before Odin found out, through one of his ravens, where Iduna was kept. Therefore Odin appointed Loki to set out to regain Iduna, but not before making Loki his blood brother.

Loki, somewhat conflicted, set out to regain Iduna, and did so by turning into an eagle and flying into the high tower to save Iduna. Thiassi found out and chased Loki in hot pursuit. Thiassi was finally defeated when he fell into a trap of Loki's and ended up in a fire on the threshold of Asgard.

So Iduna was back, and the apples returned. Soon thereafter, Thiassi's children demanded revenge from the Aesir. Not wishing to have the storm giants wreak havoc in Midgard, the Aesir agreed to give Skadi, Thiassi's daughter, the hand of one of the Aesir. She chose Njord, and much later they bore their own children, Freyr and Freyja.

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