The Apple Tree Man is a figure of West Country folklore who lives in the oldest apple tree of every orchard in England, where the fertility of each grove is thought to reside. Every year, on the Eve of Epiphany (5th January), the farmer and his workers take a pail filled with good cider and roasted apples to the Apple Tree Man, takes a drink, and toasts the tree with the words: “Health to thee, old Apple Tree, well to bear pocketsful, hatsful, pecksful, bushelsfel.” The cider remaining is then poured onto the roots of the tree with the crowd singing and cheering. This ritual, known as a wassail, is carried out to ensure the blessing of the Apple Tree Man to grant a good crop for the year. The last of the apple harvest must be left on the ground for him in tribute.

‎

‎

The apple has always been a fruit of immense significance in many different cultures and faiths. Although there is nothing in the Bible to state conclusively that the forbidden fruit of knowledge in the Garden of Eden was an apple, in Western tradition it is the apple which is depicted as the fruit that causes the Fall of Man, and condemnation and exile of Adam and Eve. The larynx in men’s throats, much more prominent than that of women, is called an Adam’s apple because of the idea that a piece of the forbidden apple stuck in Adam’s throat as he was swallowing it. In artistic depictions, the apple can have diametrically opposing meanings. When held by Adam, it is the symbol of sin. However, when held by Jesus Christ, called the Last Adam (or Second Adam or New Adam) by St Paul in the New Testament, it becomes a symbol of redemption, particularly in images of the Madonna and Child.

‎

‎

For the ancient Greeks, the apple was sacred to Apollo, the sun god. Hera, the Queen of the Olympians, had a grove full of golden apples in the west, tended by the Hesperides, the “Daughters of Evening” and nymphs of the golden light of sunset. As well as the Hesperides, Hera also placed the immortal, one-hundred-headed, dragon-like serpent Ladon to guard her sacred apple orchard. One of the hero Heracles’ Twelve Labours was to steal the golden apples from the Hesperides, which he did with the help of both Prometheus and Atlas. Apples were also the means by which Prince Hippomenes of Onchestus tricked the heroine Atalanta into marrying him. Atalanta, a disciple of Artemis, chose to live in the wilderness and became a swift huntress who spurned all suitors, stating that she would only marry a man who could outrun her while knowing that no man could. With the help of Aphrodite, Hippomenes distracted Atalanta during their race by throwing three golden apples she could not resist going after, thus winning both the race and her hand in marriage.

The most famous apple in Greek mythology was the Apple of Discord. Eris, goddess of strife, was furious at not having been invited to the wedding of Thetis and Peleus, so she threw an apple into the celebration inscribed with “Kallisti” (“To the Most Beautiful One”). Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite all claimed the apple Prince Paris of Troy, famed for his fairness, was designated to judge. Each of the three goddesses attempted to bribe Paris: Hera offered him great power and wealth, Athena offered him great wisdom and victory in war, and Aphrodite offered him the most beautiful woman in the world. Paris chose Aphrodite and, with her help, won the love of Helen, Queen of Sparta. The direct result of that choice, and the subsequent fury of Hera and Athena, was the Trojan War.

‎

‎

In Norse mythology, it is the apple which grants eternal youth. Iðunn was the goddess of youth, spring, and rejuvenation, and she was the keeper of the golden apples. These apples, like the golden apples of the Garden of the Hesperides, could heal and renew, and gave the Norse gods their immortality. When Loki, the god of mischief, needed to placate the Frost Giant Thiassi after stabbing him with a spear, he promised to give him Iðunn by luring her into a forest. Thiassi took Iðunn and her golden apples away to Jotenheim, the land of the Giants. Without Iðunn and her apples, the Norse gods grew old and grey, and when they discovered what Loki had done, they threatened him with being the first god to die if he did not get her back. Loki transformed himself into a falcon with the help of Freyja’s magic cloak, turned Iðunn and her apples into a nut, and flew back to Asgard with her. When Thiassi found her gone, he assumed eagle form and followed Loki. On seeing Thiassi’s approach, the gods built a pile of wood outside the wall of Asgard, and after Loki as a falcon landed, they set fire to the wood. Thiassi was unable to stop, crashed into the fire where his feathers caught alight, and was killed by the gods. Iðunn was then able to restore youth to the gods with her apples.

The etymological meaning of Iðunn’s name is ‘ever young’ or ‘rejuvenator’ and her apples are linked not only to youth but to birth or re-birth. As we will see in Part Two next week, the apple retains its meaning in other legends and stories as a deceitful, forbidden, and seductive fruit, but, like the Apple Tree Man himself, it is also symbolic of fertility, abundance, love, and good fortune.

‎