Beltaine Runes

Mjollnir

This tattoo comes from tattoo artist Missi.

I designed this Mjollnir for my partner who is Norse Pagan, this Thor's Hammer incorporates pieces from many traditional Thor's Hammers found in excavations within Scandinavia from the viking era.

Thanks to Missi for sharing this tattoo with us!

Green Man Chest Piece

Awen's Green Man

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Here we have another reader submission, this one from Awen 13 who says:

The center piece is the green man which has six additional faces within the design.  On my chest there are five bind runes and two other symbols.  The two pentacles on my upper body are ancient symbols from Hebrew texts.  The tattoos were done by Shad Perlich who did a fantastic job. 

Thanks so much to Awen 13 for sharing his great tattoos!

Swedish Ink

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This tattoo comes from the Flickrstream of Efigment and is licensed under Creative Commons.

The rune on the left is Mannaz which represents the self, the human race or how those things are perceived. I think the center rune is supposed to be Thurisaz, which should have longer lines extended from towards the top and bottom instead of looking like a sideways triangle, but perhaps the photo doesn't do the tattoo justice. At any rate Thurisaz has to do with reaction from another force or conflict.
The rune on the right is Sowilo which is linked to achievement and success. (By the way, being that I'm not a Nordic pagan I've gotten these explanations of the runes from Runes, Alphabet of Mystery.)

The larger symbol beneath the runes is what really interests me. According to the owner it's from an ancient rock carving found in Sweden, but I've been unable to pin that down or find an image. If any of you tattoo enthusiasts are familiar with the symbol I'd appreciate a heads up. Whether I discover the original source or not I just love this tattoo. Simple, elegant yet powerful.

Huginn and Muninn

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This amazing tattoo comes from the Flickrstream of tattoo artist Mez Love and is licensed by Creative Commons.

Mez Love is probably my favorite tattoo artist, for two reasons: 1. Amazing artistry, I've never seen any of her work that wasn't flat out gorgeous. 2. She has tons of her tattoo images on Flickr licensed for free use. Awesome.

Anyway, this tattoo features Huginn and Muninn who are the two ravens associated with Odin, chief of the Norse pantheon. Huginn is thought, Muninn is memory; they fly all over the Earth and at night they return to Odin and report what they have seen.

From the Grimnismal:

The whole world wide, every day,

fly Huginn and Muninn;

I worry lest Huginn should fall in flight,

yet more I fear for Muninn.

Valknut and Runes

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This stunning tattoo comes to us from the Flickrstream of rv3 || cls and is licensed by Creative Commons.

This tattoo was inked by artist Tim Kern out of Last Rites in New York City.


The use of the Valknut symbol goes back at least as far as Viking Age that spanned the eight and eleventh centuries. Unfortunately its historical meaning is unclear and even its original names is lost to us. The term "Valknut" is a modern name roughly translated as "the knot of the dead" or "the knot of the slain". The symbol has been rightfully claimed by modern Norse and Astru pagans with quite a few different meanings attached to it usually focusing on death but with others as well. There are even some who dispute which symbols are true Valknuts and which are not, depending on their historical age. The image on the left is from the Stora Hammar Stone which is a Viking Age standing stone in Sweden. It includes a scene of a ritual sacrifice with the Valknut appearing over the altar.

Black Sun

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This simple, yet very cool, tattoo comes from the Flickrstream of Dreamattack and is licensed under Creative Commons.

This is the more typical Black Sun which consists of multiple swastikas.

The Black Sun symbol is one of the many historical symbols from Germanic folklore that was appropriated and perverted by the Nazis. Unfortunately, it is now also gaining in popularity among Neo-Nazis as a replacement for the much more easily recognizable swastika. That said, the Black Sun rightfully holds importance for the kinder, peace-loving variety of German, or other Nordic, neopagans and is featured here for this reason. The use of the Black Sun, or Sonnenrad (Sun Wheel), goes back at least as far as the third century and was most commonly worn as an accessory for women's clothing. It is usually interpreted as representative of the sun as it moves through the months of the year, hence the twelve arms in the traditional symbol above.

To learn more about the Black Sun, visit Wikipedia.

Odin and the World Tree

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Here's another tattoo from Rate My Ink. Artist unknown.

This is Odin, the big boss of the Norse pantheon, hanging from Yggdrasil, the World Tree. Odin is one of those fascinating deities who rule over war and violence as well as poetry, prophecy and magic. By hanging from the tree Odin gained power over the nine worlds, gained the knowledge of the eighteen runes as well as nine magical songs.

Runestone

Bob at Yankee Shamrock Custom Tattoo's in California City, CA.
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The Nordic runes are an ancient written language used for communication as well as for divination. The runes are most closely associated with Odin, the all father of the Norse gods, who hung from the World Tree for nine days to learn the eighteen runes as well as nine powerful, magical songs.

Added Goddess

This lovely tattoo comes from Cetta and was created by Sarah Fish of Gen X Tattoo out of Willoughby, Ohio. If you think something about this tattoo is familiar you are absolutely right. Back in July I posted the original tattoo and now Cetta has graciously given us the update. She's number 25!

Thank you Cetta!

Mjollnir

Another tattoo ripped from Rate My Ink.

Mjollnir is the name for Thor's hammer which the Nordic god uses to crush his enemies. Every time Thor throws his hammer lightning flashes and then the hammer magically returns to his iron gloved hand. The enemies of the Norse gods, the frost giants, had suffered many losses to this Mjollnir and were thus justified in fearing Thor's hammer. Mjollnir has become a popular symbol, especially as a necklace charm, among Norse neopagans.

Amazing Norse Back Piece

This absolutely stunning back piece, with Odin and Thor, comes from Rate My Ink and was created by Mike Austin of Austin Tattoos out of Ontario, Canada.

Odin is the all father of the Norse pantheon, the one eyed ruler who controls magic, war and death as well as poetry and wisdom. Thor is one of his sons who, with his mighty hammer Mjollnir, fights the enemies of the Norse gods, the frost giants and controls thunder.

Odin and Sleipnir

This amazing tattoo is also from Rate My Ink and was created by Donna D'Amour of Art with a Pulse of Colorado Springs.

The tattoo depicts Odin, the supreme Norse god, on his mighty eight legged horse Sleipnir. Sleipnir is the offspring of the trickster god Loki who, in the form of a mare, mated with Svaldifari the stallion. Sleipnir can travel over water and land as well as travel through the air.

Freya Back Piece

This very nice Freya comes from Rate My Ink and was created by Thad Rickey at Marks of Art, San Jose, California. I know the photo quality isn't very good but I just had to post this; it's so nice! Be sure to click the image to see the larger version.

Sparrow

This pretty little sparrow comes The Curateur. The sparrow has a rich history in tattoos but is here because of its mythological association with the Norse goddess Iduna. She is the bearer of the apples of life who personifies the lighter half of the year and appears on this day as a sparrow.

Finger and Hand Symbols

These nifty tattoos come from ~b-kreep's DeviantArt page. Apparently, they are self done. From the site:

The one on my index is an Ankh, Egyptian for eternal life; middle is a "Pagan" symbol to cause sleep (I have fibromyalgia & don't sleep so good); third is a Native American symbol (Medicine Man Eye) for wisdom; pinky finger has the Norse rune of protection & watchfulness, Algiz.

Pretty neat, eh?

Tyr Rune

Okay, the Runic month of Tyr actually started on 27 February, so I'm a little late with this. Anyway, this nifty tattoo comes from here. The owner of this tattoo says the inner symbols say "tribe" or "family". See the the site for his full explanation. Pretty neat ink, eh?

Vegvisir

This nifty tattoo comes from Rank My Tattoos and was created at Saint Sabrina's in Minneapolis. For an explanation of this fascinating device I turned to the experts at the International Planetarium Society. Now, pay attention as there will be a quiz later:

This instrument draws on the fact that the sun´s shadow from the tip in the middle of a disk describes different hyperbolas at different times of the year. When you have the hyperbola representing 62° and the four weeks around summer solstice, you don´t have to know the time of the day in order to find the general directions. All you have to do is rotate the disk until the shadow of the tip falls on the hyperbola, and the general directions are given with an accuracy of a few degrees. One of the ingenious things about navigating with this instrument is that if you should choose the wrong gnomon curve and get a course that is a little too much north in the morning, this will be corrected in the afternoon by a slightly south bound course-and your average direction will be correct.

Ya know, I'm such a moron when it comes to numbers and three dimensional thinking that I'm not sure I fully understand the above. But it sure is interesting. And it makes a nice tattoo!


And if this tattoo looks familiar that may be because the fabulous Bjork has this tattoo on her arm.

Amazing Odin

This gorgeous Odin comes from Skysinger's Flickrstream.

Gorgeous Freya

This amazing tattoo comes from Pam's House Blend. If the style looks familiar that's because this piece was done by Hannah of LA Ink fame.