Nordic Roots educator Kari Tauring leads a class where you learn about Nordic Primstavs and make your own!
Primstav comes from the Latin prima for first or new, and stav means staff in Norwegian.
They are transitional calendar sticks marking the church and saint days of the new religion. The oldest examples of these calendars date to the 1300s. The folklore surrounding these days preserves land-based rituals that ancient farmers and fishermen in Scandinavia rely upon.
The two seasons, Winter and Summer, are represented on the two sides of the calendar stick. A mitten starts the Winter Side on October 14, and a Drinking Horn marks Christmas. The Summer Side is marked with a tree on April 14, but it can be stylized regionally and harder to recognize than a mitten. There are several mid-summer days from June to July for both Julian and Gregorian calendars.
Catholic Saint Day markings reminded people when it was time to go to church. You could be fined for missing a church day. Learn how Christianity changed and preserved how our ancestors reckoned time: from the seven-day week to fixed saint days to calendars whose months no longer follow the moon.
In this class, you will make a summerside primstav with symbols relevant to your life and gain an appreciation of the calendar's history and the many tasks of farm life that it was used to organize.
Please be certain that you can attend this class on the date and time. Norway House does not issue refunds or class credits.