Idun

Idun was an interloper goddess of spring and youth from the Norse pantheon. There was no evidence that this deity was directly worshiped in the Realms.There were no known worshipers of Idun in the Realms. However, Idun is mentioned in On Hallowed Ground as having a friendship with the Faerûnian god Lathander. For this reason, Idun is documented in this article.
==Description==
Idun's avatar took the form of a spry girl in her early teens, but her true form was that of a beautiful young woman.
==Personality==
Idun was a very cheerful and friendly individual. She took great delight in seeing things grow and maintain healthiness, but was also extremely conscientious about her main duty.
==Abilities==
Idun was said to have the power to slow or reverse the aging process of any being, as well as the power to awaken any sleeping being.
Her avatar form could cast spells from the all, animal, charm, divination, elemental, healing, necromantic, plant, and weather spheres
==Possessions==
Idun possessed a magical, by wicker basket that she carried her apples in and which could hold an infinite amount of them. Whenever she threw an apple in the basket at someone as if a weapon, one of many effects analogous to a wand of wonder would result upon making contact with its target.
A more conventional weapon of hers was a magical staff, which upon striking someone would make them ten years younger.
==Activites==
Idun played an important role in the Norse pantheon, as she watched over the Tree of Youth from which grew the Apples of Youth. Though she also maintained whole orchards of apples. The Apples of Youth would be fed to the Norse gods once every year come spring, keeping them youthful.This page of On Hallowed Ground states that she feeds the apples, "...to the Olympians once every year come spring." Considering the rest of information given on her in the book, this can be considered an error.Deities & Demigods and Legends & Lore both state that these apples would reverse 10 years of age, with the latter book stating they were eaten every ten years. However, On Hallowed Ground does not state how much age they reverse and instead says they were eaten every spring. As the former two are Core sourcebooks, the latter is given precedence. Some of these apples would be taken to the Norse powers on her behalf by a young human proxy named Gudrun.
She took turns watching over the Tree of Youth with Shou Hsing of the Celestial Bureaucracy, who gathered peaches from the tree for his own pantheon, but Idun rarely ever left her estate when it was his turn. 
On several occasions near-immortal beings on the Outer Planes, such as giants, would try to kidnap Idun for the Apples of Youths, but her fellow Norse gods always managed to rescue her in time.
==Relationships==
Idun was married to the Norse god Bragi.
Among the rest of the Norse pantheon she was highly valued for the role she played. She was also friends with a number of deities outside the Norse pantheon, including the Faerûnian power known as Lathander.
==Realm==
Idun lived in Ysgard, on the layer of Asgard, sharing a home with her husband Bragi. This was a rather simple house that stood amidst the orchards she tended.
She often visited Bragi in the plane of Elysium, where he had a divine realm by the name of HarpHearth, with the two returning together to Asgard shortly after such visits. But she had no interest in permanently moving to Elysium, as she preferred to live among the Norse pantheon.
==Worshipers==
Only women were allowed to be priests of her faith and they had to dedicate themselves to her at a young age. Once they reached the age of eighteen, they stopped physically aging.
Her priestesses typically wielded slings or staves as weapons. They wore costly robes as part of their priestly vestments. Much like Idun's avatar, her priestesses had access to spells from the all, animal, charm, divination, elemental, healing, necromantic, plant, and weather spheres. 
The duties of her priestesses revolved around blessing the annual planting of crops in spring and the caring for orphans.
==Rumors & Legends==
Some legends claimed that the buraq were a result of some horses stealing apples from the Tree of Youth.
==Appendix==
===Notes===
===External Links===
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===References===
===Connections===
Category:Norse pantheon
Category:Inhabitants of Eronia
Category:Inhabitants of Elysium
Category:Inhabitants of Asgard
Category:Inhabitants of Ysgard (layer)
Category:Inhabitants of Ysgard
Category:Inhabitants of the Outer Planes
Category:Inhabitants of the Great Wheel planes