Idunn is the Norse goddess of youth, and though most of her stories have been lost as a result of the Christian monks of Nordic descent failing to preserve them following the fall of Pagan dominance in the Northern world, her few remaining tales make it crystal clear that her role in the Norse pantheon is absolutely essential. Unlike her counterpart in the Greek pantheon, Hebe, Idunn's presence in the pantheon wasn't that of a mere cup-bearer whose presence had no major discernable benefit for her divine tribe. For Idunn was the sole being in all the Nine Worlds of the Asgardian cosmology who could harvest and cultivate the legendary golden apples that bequeathed physical longevity upon the deities, who needed to regularly consume one of these apples for that purpose. Unlike their counterparts in the Greek pantheon, the type of immortality enjoyed by the Norse pantheon was much more limited in nature, as according to the myths it was not a natural aspect of their being in the same sense it was for the deities of Olympus. The Asgardian deities absolutely needed these golden apples harvested by Idunn to retain their longevity. This was underscored by one of the few surviving myths involving Idunn where she was kidnapped by the giant Thiassi, and her fellow deities were therefore deprived of the golden apples only she could provide for them. As a result, they began experiencing rapid physical aging over the succeeding months until they were able to retrieve Idunn after killing Thiassi, and were again able to partake of the precious golden apples only she could give them. As her nature would indicate, Idunn is the youngest-looking of all the Norse deities, and retains her youthful spirit and its attendant attributes eternally. She is married to Bragi, the god of poetry and eloquence. According to the legends, apparently no mortal from Midgard has ever been allowed to take so much as a single bite of one of the golden apples, thus denying the mortal race any portion of the great longevity enjoyed by the deities.
I have one of the closest spiritual bonds with Idunn amongst all the Norse deities, and I feel singled out and eternally blessed by her. This is due to the youthful qualities and attributes that I have retained, a never-ending adolescence on the inside that I consider to be one of the greatest gifts the deities could ever confer to a mortal denizen of Midgard (i.e., Earth). As such, I regularly invoke Idunn to retain these qualities, thus improving my status as a youth liberationist on the political field. This is because I can readily empathize with young adolescents due to the fact that on the inside, I will forever share their qualities of unbridled idealism and optimism, enthusiasm and passion for life, the perception of life as being a grand adventure full of endless possibilities, and the creativity and flexibility of mind to see any situation from all possible angles and to be free of the mental rigidity that plagues so many older people. Hence, Idunn and the golden apples she alone can harvest are archetypically representative of the potential for eternal youth, the Nordic equivalent of Ponch De Leon's fabled fountain; hence, they symbolize all of the great attributes described above that youths tend to possess. I have always been greatly honored that Idunn has allowed at least my spirit to metaphorically consume one of her fabled golden apples on a regular basis, and that gives me endless hope for what the future may bring.
As one would expect, Idunn represents the Maiden aspect of the Wiccan Triple Goddess for Norse Wiccans.
