Askeladden - Name

Name

The name Askeladden is constructed. It is not present in any recorded source. His original name is in fact Oskefisen or Askefis, the one who sits and is blowing in the ashes. This would make sense, as the job of blowing on the embers was often assigned to the person of the household who was considered the least fit for other, more demanding chores - typically a fragile grandmother or a small child. In this way, the Ash Lad's presumed ineptness is underlined at the beginning of the tale. One can also imagine that the chore of keeping the fire up is somewhat important, as a fireplace is the actual heart of the house. In Asbjørnsens's first edition (1843), the name is rendered as Askepott, which in Norway is commonly associated with Cinderella. This was later turned into Askeladden by Moltke Moe.

The character is also closely related to the common and quite nationalistic jokes of the three Scandinavian archetypes, the Norwegian, the Swede and the Dane. In those jokes, the Norwegian always succeeds in petty contests where the others do not. The jokes resemble the fairy-tale pattern and are mostly told by Norwegian children. Here, one can interpret the Norwegian as the youngest and underdog brother of the three, a parallel to the historical facts of Norway's position in Scandinavia.