Askeladden

The character starts out being regarded as an incapable underachiever, but eventually proves himself by overcoming some prodigious deed, succeeding where all others have failed.

[b][3] In fact, the most frequently recorded original name was Oskefisen [no] or Askefis,[4][5] glossed as a person who blows on the coal to stoke the fire.

[6][8] 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.

But because the editors felt Askefis to be too rustic, they favoured the name Askeladden (or altered it to Askepot) which seemed more refined.

[21] George Webbe Dasent chose to translate the name (Askefis, Askepot) as "Boots",[22] which was criticized as a "disenchanting rendering" of "Cinderson" by The Athenaeum literary magazine,[23] but defended as "aptly styled" by Scottish folklorist W. A.

[22] Dasent says he coined the name "Boots" as representative of the tradition in English households that the youngsters of the family were expected to perform the meanest chores.

[25] Askeladden is characterised as the runt of the family, being "the youngest, smallest, and weakest",[1] yet "clever, bold, patient", and against all odds, eventually successful.

[66] In the "Peer and Paul and Esben Askelad" the father does not own even the shirt on his back, and tells his sons to make their fortune in the world.

There is a variant collected by the NFS (Norsk Folkeminnesamling [no]) where the father says he only has ragged skin trousers for clothes to provide, and sends out his sons to the world.

It has been observed that Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt draws from Norwegian folklore, with some portions in particular owing to Askeladden tales.

[35][j] But Henri Logeman [nl] contested the choice of tale, and instead favored Spurningen, for in that story Askeladden not merely finds trifling things, but his finds included a dead magpie, like Ibsen's verse (A variant of Spurningen was published later, entitled Prinsessen som ingen kunne målbinde, and is also an alternative strong candidate).