Iduna[1] was the wife of Agnarr, mother of Elsa and Anna, member of the Northuldra, and queen of Arendelle.
History
Early life
Iduna was born in the Enchanted Forest and was a member of the Northuldra who lived there. Along with her people, Iduna was able to interact with the elemental spirits who lived in the forest. After a battle broke out between the soldiers of Arendelle and the Northuldra, Iduna called upon the wind spirit and saved the young Prince Agnarr. She escaped the forest with him and started a new life in Arendelle. She and Agnarr were friends throughout their childhood, and eventually fell in love. The couple gave birth to two daughters three years apart: Elsa and Anna, respectively. She and her husband regarded Elsa and Anna as the joy of their lives but were secretly concerned about Elsa’s magical abilities and their growing potency.[3]
Motherhood
One night, after seeing Elsa and Anna playing a game about an enchanted forest in their, Agnarr and Iduna thought the time was right to tell their children the tale of their experiences of the Enchanted Forest. After Agnarr left the room, Iduna snuggled on the bed with her daughters and sang a Northuldra lullaby about Ahtohallan and tucked them in.
Accident
One night, after hearing Elsa's frantic cries, Iduna and Agnarr broke through the frozen doors of the Great Hall. Running towards an unconscious Anna, Iduna remarked that her younger daughter was "ice-cold". Moving quickly, she and her husband grabbed a pair of horses and departed for the Valley of the Living Rock, bringing their children with them.
Arriving at the valley, the family dismounted, and Agnarr called out for help. His plea was heard and the family was greeted by the trolls. An elderly troll, Pabbie, examined Anna, remarking it was fortunate that she was not struck in the heart and that healing her head would be relatively simple. After Agnarr told Pabbie to do whatever necessary, Iduna watched as the troll proceeded to heal Anna and alter her memories of Elsa's powers to remove all traces of magic. To the family's relief, Anna smiled, indicating she was all right.
With Anna taken care of, Pabbie turned to Elsa, warning her that her powers would continue to grow and that although they had great beauty, they were also dangerous and needed to be controlled. Hearing this, Iduna silently consented to Agnarr's decision: until Elsa could control her powers, the castle gates were to be locked and the staff would be reduced to limit Elsa's contact with people and keep her abilities hidden from everyone, including Anna.
For the next few years, Iduna and her husband were Elsa's only form of contact. But despite Agnarr's efforts, Elsa continued to lack control over her powers, and she even asked that her parents maintain their distance, a sentiment that greatly saddened Iduna.
Death
Memorial stones were erected to commemorate Iduna and Agnarr's deaths.
Ten years after the accident, Iduna and Agnarr left Arendelle to try and find Ahtohallan, in order to discover the roots of Elsa's powers. Under the guise of an official visit, she and her husband voyaged into the Dark Sea. There the aggressive waves overwhelmed their ship and they were lost. A funeral was held for the two of them, although only Anna attended.
Legacy
When Elsa traveled to Ahtohallan she encountered and sees her mother's spirit calling out to her. Her memory guided Elsa towards her true calling of life, as the bridge connecting the magic of Nature and people. Iduna loved the family tradition of ice fishing and proudly passed it down to Elsa and Anna.[4] Elsa and Anna held on to their mother’s scarf, with Elsa wearing it as a source of comfort in times of worry.
After Iduna's death, her dress and books, including ones that she used to read to Elsa and Anna, were stored in the castle's passageways.[5]
Appearances
| Films and Shorts | |||
| Frozen | Appears | Olaf's Frozen Adventure | Flashback |
| Frozen Fever | Absent | Frozen II | Appears |
Books
Trivia
- The queen's name does not appear in the Frozen film credits, but it is written in Old Norse runes on her burial stone as "Iðunn".
- "Iðunn" can be identified as "Ithun", or "Idunn"/"Iduna". The last is a particularly common name in Scandinavia. Iðunn can be translated into "youthful", "eternal youth", "again to love", or "rejuvenation".
- Iduna's single line in the first film is provided by Frozen's co-director, Jennifer Lee.[2]
- Director Chris Buck joked that Iduna and Agnarr did not really die on their voyage and stated that they washed up on an island, had a baby boy, and got eaten by a leopard. This premise is what occurred in Tarzan, another Disney film directed by Buck.[6]
- The queen appears in the fourth season of the ABC show, Once Upon a Time, and is portrayed by Pascale Hutton as an adult. She is portrayed by Ava Marie Telek as a child. In the show, her name is "Gerda".
Gallery
This wiki has a collection of images related to Iduna.
| Preceded by: Runeard |
Ruler of Arendelle
|
Succeeded by: Elsa |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Anna & Elsa's Childhood Times, page 4 (E-book version).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lee, Jennifer (January 5, 2014). @AweMagic Okay. Here's the skinny. I'm Elsa and Anna's mom. I have one line: "She's ice cold.". Twitter. Retrieved on January 1, 2015.
- ↑ Frozen: Padded Classic Book, page 1.
- ↑ Memory and Magic, page 104 (E-book version).
- ↑ Frozen: Stories from Arendelle, page 72.
- ↑ Buck, Chris (February 10, 2014). Reddit Q&A on Frozen. Reddit. Retrieved on December 28, 2014.