 Davidson notes a connection between apples and the Vanir , a tribe of gods associated with fertility in Norse mythology , citing an instance of eleven " golden apples " being given to woo the beautiful Gerðr by Skírnir , who was acting as messenger for the major Vanir god Freyr in stanzas 19 and 20 of Skírnismál . In Skírnismál , Gerðr mentions her brother 's slayer in stanza 16 , which Davidson states has led to some suggestions that Gerðr may have been connected to Iðunn as they are similar in this way . Davidson also notes a further connection between fertility and apples in Norse mythology ; in chapter 2 of the Völsunga saga when the major goddess Frigg sends King Rerir an apple after he prays to Odin for a child , Frigg 's messenger ( in the guise of a crow ) drops the apple in his lap as he sits atop a mound . Rerir 's wife 's consumption of the apple results in a six @-@ year pregnancy and the caesarean section birth of their son — the hero Völsung . 
