Viking Tattoo Designs

When one hears the word Viking, the populace from Scandinavia during the Viking Age often comes to mind. They are thought of as mighty warriors and fearless explorers. During the often slow process of bringing Christianity to Scandinavia, the voyages of the Vikings slowly began to dwindle and then stopped altogether.

Erik Gustaf Geijer was the author of a poem titled The Viking. It was in the early part of the 19th century when the poem was published and the term Viking became popular. Viking tattoo designs incorporate much of the same symbolism as do Celtic tattoos. It is said that to distinguish between the two design styles is difficult because of the influence of conquering lands and trading between the two peoples.

Vikings of Note

Most adults and children are familiar with the childhood ditty, “London Bridge is Falling Down.” Olaf Tryggvason is said to have forced literally thousands of people to convert to Christianity. He is said to have burned down the London Bridge because he was angered by the people’s disobedience to his orders. Another Viking of note is the former King of Norway, Magnus Barelegs as is Oleg or Helgi that ruled Kiev. Brian Boru as the King of Ireland was killed by the Danish Viking Brodir and the famous Erik the Red was known as the colonizer of Greenland.

The Scandinavian belt is where the origins of Viking tattoos began and today many people of Nordic descent wear a Viking tattoo as a sign of their pride in their heritage. The Viking tattoo symbolizes guts, bravado and courage and even if one is not of Scandinavian descent, the popularity of a Viking tattoo to show the world what you are made of is often seen as body art.

Viking Tattoos and the Celtic People

Celtic and Viking tattoos are often intertwined because of the influence each had on each other during medieval times. The Celts wore their tattoos proudly and when the Vikings came to conquer their lands, they too took up the habit of wearing body art and adornments. Viking designs are typically swastikas and crosses. The triskeles are a design that has three arms or a triangle symbol in elaborate swirls.

Though a Viking tattoo may be a helmet adorned with horns, historical evidence does not point to the fact that the Vikings ever donned this type of head gear. Typically, a Viking tattoo is one that combines the beauty of both the Celtic and the Scandinavian people.

Today’s Viking Tattoos

You should be forewarned that most Viking tattoo symbols are attractive to the white supremacists and skin head groups. The swastika though a Scandinavian symbol was taken by Hitler for his army and the symbol of his movement that targeted Jews, gypsies and other undesirables. So before you get a Viking tattoo, be sure that it is not one that is popular among the racist groups so that you are not mistaken for one of them. You can easily display your national heritage with any number of the Celtic tattoo designs because as we mentioned earlier, the two cultures intertwined their pictures and symbols.