ANST - Re: Tattoos

[Gunnora Hallakarva]

'wolf said:
> question ... how many work their tattoo work into their
> personas / realities ???  know a couple from the "old
> days", but haven't run into any in the current
> days ... any good references on ancient tattoo
> practices ???

Judging by the number of times I get Viking Answer Lady questions on this topic, a LOT of Norse types out there want authentic Viking tattoos.

The Arabic observer Ibn Fadlan tells us of the Rus Vikings:

"§ 81.  Each man has an axe, a sword, and a knife and keeps each by him at all times.   The swords are broad and grooved, of Frankish sort.  Every man is tatooed from finger nails to neck with dark green (or green or blue-black) trees, figures, etc."

Probably what Ibn Fadlan is describing here is some sort of knotwork or tendril design.

Of course, the only way we actually will ever have ANY record of period tattoo designs is from the occasional hapless person who got themselves frozen or freezedried. Under  the "frozen" category, we have Otzi the Iceman.  As far as freeze-dried, we have several examples of Scythians buried in kurgans where the burial chamber was below the level of the permafrost, which preserved their bodies perfectly.

You can ge some info on both  (including pictures of the Scythian tattoos) at http://www.tattoo.dk/engelske/history-english/oldest.htm

I also have one good book on the Scythians by Renate Rolle that has better line drawings of the Scythian tatoos as well.

::GUNNORA::

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