How Stav Came into Being

By Graham Butcher From his booklet This is Stav
Stav simply means 'knowledge of the rune staves' so anyone with knowledge of runes can legitimately claim to know a form of stav. This booklet is concerned with Hafskjold-Stav, the specific tradition of rune knowledge which has passed on for 44 generations by the Hoskols, later the Hafskjolds. Knowledge of the runes was by no means confined to this particular group, indeed it was widespread across Europe until well into the Middle Ages and possibly until the last century. What makes the Hafskjold-Stav tradition important is that its teachings have been passed on consistently for over 1500 years.

There are two major strands in this story: Firstly the semi-legendary origins of the Hafskjold family. This story begins in West Norway with the Jarls (Earls) of More who traced their ancestry back to Heimdal's mythical visit to Midgard (our world) when, disguised as Rig, a traveller, he fathered the Trels (serfs) Karls (freemen) and Jarls (noblemen). The Jarls of More believed that they were descended from the first Jarl, son of Heimdal and his wife Erna, the Daughter of Herse (Chieftain). The tradition has it that Heimdal returned to teach the young Jarl knowledge of the runes and that was how mankind discovered Stav.

The story continues when, around 500 CE, a daughter of one of the Jarls of More became pregnant by a traveller named Hos who resided in the family home. Hos means 'the grey one' and the rumour spread that he was none other than Odin himself on one of his sojourns in Midgard. When the child was born he was named Erling. When he had grown up he and his mother fell out with the rest of the family so they  and a few retainers crossed the mountains to the east, to where Drammensfjord is today and settled there. He established a hill-top stronghold dedicated to his father. It became known as Hoskol, the 'grey one's hill' and from this the family took their name. It should be noted that Ivar doesn't take this too seriously and suggests the 'grey-one' was probably a 6th century travelling salesman.

The second strand concerns the development of the younger Futhork as used in the Hafskjold-Stav tradition. By the 9th century there was a proliferation of runic traditions, some of them getting rather complicated. Also with the coming of Christianity it was likely that teaching programmes requiring years of formal study would be difficult to maintain. So a simplified system was needed that could be learned and remembered more easily. There is an island in the river Gota, near where the modern city of Gothenburg stands. In about 800 CE there was a meeting of rune masters representing the centres of runic study in Norway, Denmark and Sweden. They agreed on the 16 rune Futhork which the Hafskjold family have been using ever since.

They applied it as a complete and comprehensive mind/body/spirit system which they found helped them in all aspects of life. In maintaining health and well being. As a means of healing. In crafts such as bow making, building and construction, boat building, hunting and horticulture. When applied to martial training it enabled them to develop a fearsome reputation as warriors. On an internal level they used Stav for spiritual and mental development and for guidance in everyday life.
Ivar has always said: "Stav is a means of learning to see reality," the reality about ourselves, our bodies, the world around us, our community, our past, present and future and the underlying reality of the universe.

For many centuries the Hafskjold family kept their Stav tradition to themselves and few outside the family even knew of it. But during the second half of the 20th century the family became more scattered throughout Europe. The younger members of the family no longer learned from grandparents. It became apparent to Ivar that unless the teachings of the tradition were spread more widely  Hafskjold-Stav would probably die with him.  So the decision was made to teach Stav to anyone who was interested. The author is one of the original four students which Ivar took on as apprentices.