Ivar Andreas Aasen (5 August 1813 – 23 September 1896) was a Norwegian philologist and lexicographer. He is best known for creating a new variant of the Norwegian language based on the way people in Norway spoke. His aim was to replace Danish as the official written language in Norway. He wanted a new written language that sounded more like the spoken Norwegian of ordinary people. Danish had become the official written language during Norway's union with Denmark (1400s-1814). It was only mastered by a few middle and upper class Norwegians.