Aardwolf (ärd′wu¨lf: earth-wolf) (Protĕles cristātus), a burrowing carnivore of S. and E. Africa, allied to the hyenas and civets. It feeds on carrion, small mammals, insects, &c.
Aare. See Aar.
Aargau (är′gou), or Argovie (a˙r-go-vē), a northern canton of Switzerland; area, 543 sq. miles; hilly, well wooded, abundantly watered by the Aar and its tributaries, and well cultivated. Pop. 236,860. German is almost universally spoken. Capital, Aarau.
Aarhuus (ōr′hös), a seaport and ancient town of Denmark, on the east coast of Jutland. It has a fine Gothic cathedral, a good harbour, and manufactures woollens, gloves, hats, tobacco, &c. Pop. 65,858.
Aaron (ā′ron), of the tribe of Levi, brother of Moses. At Sinai, when the people became impatient at the long-continued absence of Moses, he complied with their request by making a golden calf, and thus became involved with them in the guilt of gross idolatry. The office of high-priest, which he first filled, was made hereditary in his family. He died at Mount Hor at the age of 123, and was succeeded by his son Eleazer.
Aaron's Beard. See Saint John's Wort and Toad-flax.
Aaron's Rod. See Golden-rod and Mullein.
Aasen (ō′zen), Ivar Andreas, Norwegian poet and philologist, was born in 1813 and died in 1896. He wrote miscellaneous poems and a drama, but he is chiefly known as the originator of the patriotic movement known as the Maulstroev. He endeavoured to give Norway a literary language distinct from the Danish, which has long served as the literary and official language of the country. This he attempted to do mainly by the help of the native dialects, which he studied thoroughly, setting forth their grammar in special works and embodying their vocabulary in his Norsk Ordbog med Dansk Forklaring (Norse Dictionary, with Explanations in Danish, 1873), supplemented by the Norsk Ordbog of Hans Ross (1890-2). Numbers of poems, tales, &c., have been written in the language, of which Aasen was in a sense the inventor.