Well, I am still confused--although I never claimed to be among the brightest bulbs in the room.
Does the word "stave" in Norwegian mean something other than the word "stave" as we use it?
As we use the word "stave," it usually, generally, most of the time, means that narrow strip of wood used in making wooden barrels or tubs; or lesser, means the rung of a ladder or a chair; or lesser than that, a club or cudgel.
These "stave churches," obviously are made of wood, and perhaps wood slats, but it does not quite seem to fit--and so I am left wondering if there is a fourth definition of "stave," or if "stave" as used in "stave churches" means something wholly different in Norwegian.
From the link abv:
"Staves are the vertical, load-bearing timbers in the building. The frame of a stave church wall consists of a sill, staves and a top sill, and these have grooves that receive the wall planks."
Take a closer look at the architectural cutaway above. Note how the wood in the walls runs in a vertical fashion. Its as though a barrel maker heard a call from God...