Ask, Vestland

Ask is a small village in the eastern part of Askøy municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village lies along the Byfjorden on the eastern shore of the island of Askøy. The village of Ask is well known for the farming of strawberries which are sold in the marketplace in the nearby city of Bergen during the summer season.

The 1.5-square-kilometre (370-acre) village has a population (2019) of 1,562 and a population density of 1,041 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,700/sq mi).

Due to its pleasant climate and its location on an island near Bergen, Ask was the location of a kongsgård (i.e., royal farm – the Norwegian equivalent of a palace estate). Ask gård (literally Ask farm), with the farm number 1, was the basis for the name of Askøy. This was also the site of the extremely old church and churchyard which was in use from around the year 1200 until 1741. Today the old church site is marked by a stone cross. A newer Ask Church was built in the centre of Ask in 1741. Ask village is the saga location for a famous dispute over inheritance between Egill Skallagrímsson and Berg-Önundr. When Berg-Önundr refused to allow Egill to claim his wife Ásgerðr's share of her father's inheritance, Egill challenged Önundr to a holmgang.

The local dialect of the village also reflects the continuing close tie to Bergen, with the dialect being more similar to that of Bergen than that of the rest of Askøy; the connection was reinforced into modern times as the wealthy merchants and other residents of Bergen summered there.

Ask has had famous residents up to recent times. Fridtjof Nansen lived in a house near Kongshaugen in a short period. Amalie Skram lived at Lien at Ask, near Ask Dambruk, from 1876 to 1878, in the same house where the headmaster, Nils Peder Åland, lived for 40 years.