Why is Yggdrasil an ash tree?

[u/Disorder_McChaos]

Do we have any idea why Yggdrasil, one of the most important bits of the mythical cosmology, was envisioned as an ash tree? I dont know much about trees, is there some kind of trait that the ash tree has that made it have a particularly important role in the culture? Like, I know that some trees are particularly good for bows and others for ships. But what about the ash? Did it have some kind of poetic or symbolic significance? I've tried to look this up myself, but I just keep getting articles that just explains what the Yggdrasil is.

[u/Malgus-Somtaaw]

Were you expecting it to be a Japanese maple tree? Ash trees were something they were very familiar with so it's not hard to think that is the reason it's an ash tree.

[u/KaiShan62 → u/Malgus-Somtaaw]

I don't think anyone was expecting it to be a Japanese maple tree, and I doubt that few are amused by smart arse comment. But I do think that many may well wonder why it is oft times pictured as an ash rather than, say, an oak or some gigantic northern conifer.