What does STAV stand for?
Published: Fri, 02/05/16
Sorry it has taken so long. Here goes with a draft chapter of my book. The first chapter heading on my list is: ‘How I discovered Stav’. I covered that a few days ago in my post entitled: ‘The Viking and the Samurai’, link at the bottom if you missed it. So, I had already started and not quite realised it.
What does Stav mean? Sometimes people think it is an acronym, like BJJ (Brazilian Ju Jitsu) for example.
The word stav just means stave, as in stavkirk, church made of staves of wood, a traditional Scandinavian design. See link below.
So the word and the object it describes are simple enough. In Stav martial training the staff is the basic weapon and training begins and ends with the staff. The student learns how to use the staff as their initial training. The staff trains the body so that other weapons such as axe and cudgel can be used as well as unarmed skills. The staff is used to defend against other weapons such as the above mentioned axe or sword. Eventually the staff is used to demonstrate an awareness of the lines of the web. So, in a martial arts context Stav could be said to be the ‘Art of the Stav/stave/staff’. Although, at an advanced level the purpose of training is not to use a staff but to learn to see the lines of the web through practice with the staff.
I am currently in the process of building a built in wardrobe for a client. Most of the construction is being done with a 2 by 1 timber frame and plywood skin. On a craft level the one of most fundamental raw materials is staves of wood. The craft bind rune includes the runes As for Ash and Yr for yew, basically hard wood and flexible wood. For self-reliance, understanding how to construct in wood and how to select wood for burning, are two fundamental skills. I would see the knowing of how to make staffs, axes and cudgels (and spears and teins) as an essential aspect of martial training. Each rune also has a tree association. Access to trees and a comprehensive knowledge of their wood, fruits and other products will provide many of the essentials of life.
Two of the runes are even named after trees, Bjork (birch) and Yr (yew). All of the runes has a tree association. Being able to list and identify the relevant tree for each rune is fundamental to knowledge of the runes. ‘Knowledge of the rune staves’ is the definition of Stav I tend to use when asked what ‘Stav’ means. This will include knowing how to do the stances, mythological meanings and associations, rune poems and, well, as far as you want to go I suppose.
So, that is the basis of Stav as a practical education system. Fighting skills, craft skills, tree resources, runes as body and mind training. Also for access to wisdom through associated mythology and simply being able to read and write.
The other meaning of Stav being a traditional education process. But how far does education go? What I have described above is a rather Karl orientated perception of Stav. On a Trel level you are dependant upon others. The first stage of self-reliance is to gain the skills to provide for yourself and support others. Related to this is the ability to defend yourself and property. This would a be a Karl level education through Stav. In the Hafskjold family poem there is the line ‘Staver setter’ or ‘Staves set’. This means to ‘perform the stances’ and apparently it can mean setting staves to mark out the area around a Ve (sacred space).
An area for a Thing or parliament was also marked out by the setting of Hazel staves. The area delineated by the staves became a temporarily sacred space. Within this space all who were entitled to attend could speak their minds without fear or favour.
Ultimately, Stav means learning to see the web of Orlog. The web manifests in many ways, it can be the links between our past, our present and possible paths into our future. Anything built or made that has strength and durability will need to be created according to the web. A tree grows according to its web and the human body is a representation of the web. If you are going to cut or split wood you will need to do so according to the lines of the web. In combat, seeing the lines of attack and defence and where to strike into the body will make you a highly effective fighter.
There is no aspect of life which is not represented and potentially understood through a knowledge of the web. Seeing the lines of the web is not easy and can take a lot of time and practice. It does help to know what you are looking for though.
If you want to learn about Stav direct from Ivar Hafskjold himself there will be a training weekend with Ivar in July in Somerset. Details at http://www.stavcamp.org/ih.html
regards
Graham
PS Course tomorrow in Salisbury, 10am more details at http://www.iceandfire.org.uk/train.html
Post on the Viking and the Samurai is here http://archive.aweber.com/iceandfire/PNeii/t/The_Viking_and_the_Samurai.htm