Northern Advocate
  • Northern Advocate home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Sport
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings

Locations

  • Far North
  • Kaitaia
  • Kaikohe
  • Bay of Islands
  • Whangārei
  • Kaipara
  • Mangawhai
  • Dargaville

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Kaitaia
  • Whangārei
  • Dargaville

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Northern Advocate

Vaughan Gunson: The Gods of Asgard were bored... Loki offered Thor an apple

By Vaughan Gunson
Northern Advocate·
7 Apr, 2018 04:00 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

The gods take a close look at the apple. GETTY IMAGES

The gods take a close look at the apple. GETTY IMAGES

The Gods of Asgard were bored. Restless and void of any purpose, some even longed for Ragnarok.

Only Odin's wife, Frigg, was content with the unchanging cycle of existence. Odin himself had lost interest in fighting dead warriors and feasting in the hall of Valhalla. Thor spent long immortal days oiling his hammer, Mjollnir.

It was Loki, who, for his own reasons, came up with the idea of a game. To be played on Midgard, the world of mortal men and women. The other gods enthusiastically agreed.
On the day of the game, they travelled down Bifrost, the flaming rainbow bridge between worlds.

Read more: Vaughan Gunson: Barack Obama contributed to the rise of Donald Trump
Vaughan Gunson: Time to think ahead as we approach the end of the fossil fuel era
Vaughan Gunson: Sheepish, guilty feelings after first-time burglary experience

The gods divided into two teams of 11, with giants from Jotunheim making up the numbers on each side.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Giants make up the numbers in the Norse gods' teams. GETTY IMAGES
Giants make up the numbers in the Norse gods' teams. GETTY IMAGES

The object of the game was simple. One team would take turns at throwing a hard, unripe apple at a player from the other team, who would attempt to hit the apple as far as they could with Thor's hammer.

A hit that went out beyond the serpent Jormungand which encircled Midgard scored one to the tally.

At the last moment, Loki added the rule that a player holding Thor's hammer must stand in front of the great tree, Yggdrasill. If an apple hit the tree, then the god or giant's turn with the hammer would be over.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Thor captained one team, Odin the other. Loki chose to play on the side of Thor, which raised some eyebrows.

Thor's team hit nine apples out beyond the serpent Jormungand. Odin proved a fearsome hurler of apples, as did Freyr, who possessed some of the shiniest apples which fizzed through the air.

Thor checks out his hammer, Mjollnir, ahead of Loki's little game. GETTY IMAGES
Thor checks out his hammer, Mjollnir, ahead of Loki's little game. GETTY IMAGES

The game was coming to an end when Odin, at last, took his place in front of the great tree wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a blue cloak. He looked determinedly towards Thor with his one eye.

It was then that Loki came up to Thor and offered him an apple. "Use this apple that I've been saving for Odin," said Loki.

Discover more

Vaughan Gunson: What's best for Korean Peninsula?

02 May 02:00 AM

"Why?" asked Thor. "Because it will get past Odin's swing," Loki replied.

"How?" Thor asked, before adding, "Never mind, give it to me, I don't want to know." He only wanted to see the apple smash into the tree trunk behind Odin.

But before he could throw, Balder, the gentle and beloved son of Odin and Frigg, intervened. He had sat out the game, only wishing to watch and enjoy the competition in his neutral and wise manner.

Balder said, "Thor, give me the apple that Loki gave you." And before all the gods and giants, as well as the men and women of Midgard who had gathered around, he broke open the apple to show where Loki had inserted in one half a gold nugget.

Balder explained that Loki was trying to gain advantage by making the ball move oddly through the air, making it more difficult for Odin to hit.

Loki tried to shrug it off by saying that he meant no harm, "It's only a game." But then he saw the anger on Odin's face and the disappointment on Thor's, while gods, giants, men and women alike, started booing and calling Loki a cheat.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Loki shed tears hoping to gain sympathy, but there was none.

It was agreed that Ratatosk, the squirrel, should be asked to pass judgment on Loki. Which he did, banishing Loki from Asgard for a year, and on returning to be banned from instigating games that would ever again embarrass the gods in front of mortals.

For the men and women of Midgard, the time the gods came to earth to play their game was for a short while a talking point in the feasting halls and privately in their family huts.

They never did forget, though, the sullen way the gods slunk away from Midgard. Perhaps the gods weren't worthy of the love and devotion they had previously given them, and fewer of the warriors amongst them wanted to join the gods in Valhalla.

And as they got on with their lives, they kind of thanked Loki for that.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Northern Advocate

Northern Advocate

Court backs sacking of Northland doctor who sent 'flirty texts' to junior

06 Jul 09:13 PM
Northern Advocate

Far North Mayor calls on New Zealanders to vote for Māori wards in October

06 Jul 08:12 PM
Northern Advocate

‘Flying’ through the air: Grandfather's call for safer crossings after crash

06 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Northern Advocate

Court backs sacking of Northland doctor who sent 'flirty texts' to junior

Court backs sacking of Northland doctor who sent 'flirty texts' to junior

06 Jul 09:13 PM

The sexual harassment investigation led to the doctor taking 10 months' stress leave.

Far North Mayor calls on New Zealanders to vote for Māori wards in October

Far North Mayor calls on New Zealanders to vote for Māori wards in October

06 Jul 08:12 PM
‘Flying’ through the air: Grandfather's call for safer crossings after crash

‘Flying’ through the air: Grandfather's call for safer crossings after crash

06 Jul 05:00 PM
'Serious-to-critical': Crash shuts SH1 in Northland, delays expected

'Serious-to-critical': Crash shuts SH1 in Northland, delays expected

06 Jul 08:48 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • The Northern Advocate e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Northern Advocate
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The Northern Advocate
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP