Assentoft 4.31

Assentoft is a town on the peninsula of Jutland, with a population of 3,427 (2016). The town is eight kilometers east of Randers, and is a part of Randers Municipality in the Central Denmark Region.HistoryPrehistoryIn present Assentoft there have been found remains of e.g. a round barrow with a grave from the Stone Age, two round barrows from Antiquity, a settlement from the late Bronze Age, and another settlement which seems to have been inhabited from the late Stone Age to the late Iron Age.NameIn place names the last particle -toft means "the adapted", and refers to an area which is adapted to a house. A toft was therefore perhaps first an area specified for settlement by a farm owner in a village. Names with -toft must to a wide extent be from the Viking Age, as there are many names with -toft in England and Normandy.In settlement names with the last particle –toft, the first particle is often a Nordic first name - in this case perhaps Asgun. However, in some cases the first particle refers to e.g. animals, terrain or vegetation, and the first particle in Assentoft is probably the Old Danish word æsking, which means "ash stand". An inhabitant of Assentoft is supposedly called an Esking.