Primstaven
Norway’s old calendar stave
$1.99 · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
Discover the old Norwegian calendar stave: carved symbols, saints’ days, weather lore and folk traditions for every marked day of the year.
The primstav is the old Norwegian calendar stave, used from the Middle Ages until well into the 19th century. Every day was a notch in the wood, and the important marked days had their own carved symbols: St. Olaf’s axe, St. Lawrence’s gridiron, St. Peter’s key and many more.
Primstaven brings this calendar to your iPhone and iPad. Browse the year on a beautifully carved stave that opens at today’s date, or use the list, divided into a summer side and a winter side – just as the stave was turned on Summer Day, 14 April, and Winter Day, 14 October.
For each marked day you get:
• its name, and the original Norwegian name
• who or what the day commemorates
• the symbol from the primstav and what it means
• the story behind the day, with folk beliefs, weather lore and old customs
Features:
• A carved primstav showing the whole year – tap either end to jump back to today
• A list of all marked days, with search by name, saint or symbol
• Optional daily notification on marked days, at the time you choose
• Two symbol sets: traditional woodcarving or simple carved signs
• Wood or plain background, and the option to show only marked days on the stave
• Share a marked day with others
• English and Norwegian
• Works offline – no ads, no accounts and no data collection
The texts are based on Store norske leksikon (the Great Norwegian Encyclopedia) and other sources on the primstav and the Norwegian tradition of marked days.
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The developer, Tommy Ovesen, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
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The developer does not collect any data from this app.
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Information
- Seller
- Tommy Ovesen
- Size
- 88.2 MB
- Category
- Education
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 15.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 15.0 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 15.0 or later. - iPod touch
Requires iOS 15.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 12.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Languages
- English and Norwegian Bokmål
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Copyright
- © 2026 Tommy Ovesen
