Idun and the Apples of Youth

by Joan Holub

World on the third (bottom) ring where fire giants live

  Nidhogg:

  Dragon that lives in Niflheim and gnaws at the root of the World Tree

  Nif lheim:

  World on the third (bottom) ring where the good dead are sent

  Njord:

  Vanir god of the sea sent to Asgard after the Aesir-Vanir war (Asgard Academy student and boygod from Vanaheim)

  Norse:

  Related to the ancient people of Scandinavia, a region in Northern Europe that includes Denmark, Norway, and Sweden and sometimes Finland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands

  Odin:

  Powerful Norse god of war, wisdom, and poetry who watches over all nine worlds (coprincipal of Asgard Academy with his wife, Ms. Frigg)

  Ragnarok:

  Prophesied doomsday when goddesses and gods will fight a fiery battle against evil that could destroy all nine Norse worlds

  Ratatosk:

  Squirrel that runs up and down Yggdrasil spreading gossip and insults

  Sif:

  Golden-haired goddess of the harvest (Asgard Academy student and girlgoddess)

  Skade:

  Goddess of skiing, sometimes spelled Skadi (Asgard Academy student and half-giant girl)

  Skidbladnir:

  Magical ship made as a gift for Frey

  Sleipnir:

  Odin’s eight-legged horse

  Spydkast:

  A competition that involves throwing a spear as far as possible after running

  Thiazi:

  Giant who forces Loki to bring him Idun and her apples

  Thor:

  Superstrong Norse god of thunder and storms (Asgard Academy student and boygod)

  Trolls:

  Subgroup of giants who live in Ironwood Forest near Midgard (barefoot troublemakers at Bifrost Bridge)

  Valhalla:

  Huge room in Asgard where dead warriors feast and fight (Valhallateria is Asgard Academy’s cafeteria)

  Valkyries:

  Warrior maidens in winged helmets who choose which warriors will die in battle and then bring them to Valhalla (cafeteria ladies and workers in Asgard Academy’s Valhallateria)

  Vanaheim:

  World on the first (top) ring where Vanir goddesses and gods live

  Vanir:

  Norse goddesses and gods who live in Vanaheim

  Vingolf Hall:

  Goddesses’ meeting hall at Asgard (girls’ dorm at Asgard Academy)

  Yggdrasil:

  Enormous ash tree that links all nine ancient Norse worlds, also called the World Tree (location of Asgard Academy)

  Ymir:

  Very first frost giant whose body parts were used to create the Norse cosmos, including mountains, the sea, and the heavens

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ALADDIN

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

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  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  First Aladdin hardcover edition October 2019

  Text copyright © 2019 by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams

  Jacket illustration copyright © 2019 by Pernille Ørum

  Interior illustration of tree copyright © 2019 by Elan Harris

  Also available in an Aladdin paperback edition.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

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  Designed by Laura Lyn DiSiena

  Library of Congress Control Number 2019942741

  ISBN 978-1-4814-9646-9 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-9645-2 (pbk)

  ISBN 978-1-4814-9647-6 (eBook)