Norwegian runic calendar staff
A Norwegian runic calendar staff is a calendar used in Norway from about the fourteenth to the nineteenth century. Most surviving examples are carved in wood. Each day is shown by a notch or line, with every seventh day receiving a stronger mark.
Feast days and annual cycle
Store norske leksikon explains that saints' days and other notable days are represented by symbols. The staffs do not name the weekdays and can therefore be reused every year. They function as perpetual calendars, not diaries tied to one particular year.
Form and dating
A staff may have one or more faces and vary in shape and decoration. Symbols must be read in context because signs and local traditions differ. A familiar motif alone proves neither age nor geographic origin. Record the complete object, dimensions, wood species where it can be established, wear, inscriptions, repairs and provenance.
