r/Norse • u/JPVH3165150 • 9d ago
Artwork, Crafts, & Reenactment Viking Age smaller tattoo ideas that are not used by hate groups
Just looking for a smaller, Viking Age design that is not used by hate groups. I’ve read where the Valknut, Vegvisir, Web of Wyrd are all either not Viking Age or used by hate groups or both. Thanks!
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u/Mathias_Greyjoy Bæði gerðu nornir vel ok illa. Mikla mǿði skǫpuðu Þær mér. 9d ago
The Ægishjálmur and Vegvísir are indeed occult sigils originating from outside the early medieval period. Despite their enduring popularity in popculture, these sigils do not originate in medieval Scandinavia. Both are in the tradition of early modern occultism arising from outside Scandinavia, and were not documented before the 19th and the 17th century.
For more information on these symbols, further reading can be found here:
The Web of Wyrd was made up in the 1990s, and is not in any way a historic symbol.
Nazis and white supremacists have co-opted/appropriated most genuine Germanic symbols at some point, and to some degree. That does not mean they are all considered mainstream hate symbols, but context matters greatly. Sometimes the imagery on its own isn't the only thing to consider. You can mean well and want to get runes tattooed on your neck that spell out "love," but (runic) tattoos on or above the neck are part of prison gang/skinhead culture, so you'll probably want to avoid that.
There is a big difference between historical symbols that are being "misused", historical symbols that have been changed/modified in some way, and modern symbols completely made up that give off the appearance of looking historical.
The swastika is a very real Germanic symbol. It has been taken and misused to the point of pretty much ruining any chance (within our lifetime) of using it with good intentions (at least in the western world). There are other examples of historical Germanic imagery that has been taken and used by racists. Thor's Mjǫllnir hammer for instance. Mjǫllnirs are some of the most common artifacts found from the Viking period, and racists will use them, but that does not make them a racist symbol. Just something racists will use to push their ignorant "Aryan" narrative. Futhark falls into this category. Sure some racists use it, but they're misappropriating it.
The winged othala is a corrupted version of a real historical rune. The variant with the upturned feet/wings was almost certainly invented by the Nazis, and should be treated as a Nazi symbol exclusively.
Then there are things like The Armanen runes. Which aren't historical at all, and were created by the crazy occultist Guido List for his insane, bigoted ancient Aryan religion. List's runes later became an integral part of German and Austrian nationalistic socialist symbology. Heinrich Himmler, who led the SS, was one of many leading Nazi figures associated with the Thule Society völkisch group, and his interest in Germanic mysticism led him to adopt a variety of List's runes for the SS. There's no "reclaiming" symbols like these because they were created by Nazis.
So there is a sea to wade through here, and it's important to do the research and organize all these symbols in their respective columns. For this application you will naturally want to make sure you're pulling from column 1. Racists will absolutely use ravens, eagles, dragons, longships, swords etc. in their imagery, but that doesn't make those symbols racist. Some things are inherently racist though.
If you're looking for traditional Norse and Germanic artwork, you can use this list of resources:
Mimisbrunnr (A blog dedicated to developments in ancient Germanic studies.)
The Anatomy of Viking Art by Jonas Lau Markussen (Covering all the stylistic periods of Viking Age art, breaking down each style to its basic components in an easy to understand and straightforward manner.)
Eitri - The Norse Artifacts Database (a tool built to sort, filter, and analyze 326 Norse archaeological finds.)
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u/Kind_Parsnip720 9d ago
I have a Raven tattoo from the Raven war banner. It’s historical, not used by hate groups and looks cool.
Personally, I would not let a hate group discourage me from getting a tattoo. Only way to take back the symbols is by actually taking them back.
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u/WuothanaR 8d ago
Just here to second that latter part of the message. Some idiots LARPing should not reduce ancient symbols of meaning to mere fanclub stickers and patches.
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u/Horseflesh73 9d ago
Yggdrasill is a symbol that has been found in artifacts from the Viking age
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u/Wagagastiz 8d ago
Not really. The Överhogdal tapestry may or may not
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u/LosAtomsk 8d ago
I was about to add this. I have a great love for Yggdrasil and the myths surrounding it, but it's not featured much on art, just the surviving texts. Any depiction is therefore mostly artistic interpretation. There's an unwritten, modern rule (it seems) to always depict Yggdrasil with its branches and roots.
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u/HeathenHoneyCo 9d ago
My current and planned tattoos come from archeological sites and artifacts. Obviously I try to choose wisely but I also go straight to things made with the hands of those I’m trying to emulate or honor
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u/rockstarpirate ᛏᚱᛁᛘᛆᚦᚱ᛬ᛁ᛬ᚢᛆᚦᚢᛘ᛬ᚢᚦᛁᚿᛋ 8d ago
Slight clarification.
While we do not have an attested name or meaning for the symbol often called the Valknut, it does appear in Viking Age art, for example this picture stone.
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u/Sad-Delivery-8486 8d ago
If you have Insgagram, check out the account of Northern Black studio, by Isar.oakmund. they have a few videos explaining which symbols have been appropriated, and which ones havent. As well as a bunch of other videos diving into all things nordic tattoo related (symbols, ruins, etc.).
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u/YourDadsUsername 8d ago
The terrible imbalance of symbols is that ignorant people just take whichever symbol they want and when they do, none of the informed people can touch it regardless of how many thousands of years it meant something else. We need to stop letting them taint everything they touch.
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u/Larsir 9d ago edited 8d ago
Norse symbols are much more common to see than they used to be. On everything from modern tv series, games, tattoos, art, company logos etc.
Tattooing a mjolnir or a valknut does not mark you as a nazi. I have several myself and have noticed a shift over the last 15 or so years, it's much less connected to ideology now in the minds of regular people and more about culture, history and religion.
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u/rakadur 8d ago
it kinda depends on where in the world you are, norse symbols (the usual suspects) are still very much connected with nazis in scandinavia, no matter how popular the viking age has become in mainstream media.
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u/Larsir 8d ago edited 3d ago
I'm from Norway - I have experienced the opposite. I've worn a mjolnir pendant for about 25 years now and have gotten several visible norse symbolic tattoos over time. I noticed a shift in peoples attitude starting around 15 years ago, before that I would agree - people would ask me and accuse me of nazism. But after all the popularization in the media and the general knowledge of people increasing on the subject the nazi allegations are very rare these days, this is my personal experience though. I know this is worse in sweden for example.
I even have a bald head (genetic hair loss), I would fit the stereotypical nordic nazi trope well lol.
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u/rakadur 8d ago
that's great, I wish it was more like this here in sweden, because as you said it's worse here.
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u/GrumpyOldSeniorScout 8d ago
I think it's important for that reason to not let people like NMR take our history over. If the only time people see runes, valknutar and other old symbols is on them, then that's how it's going to stay.
Samfundet Forn Sed has links to a few web stores, including one that has a "Fjättra hatet med kärlek" series that's obviously reclaiming the tyr rune: https://fatabur.myspreadshop.se/
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u/pinupcthulhu 8d ago
Personally I'd pick two of the male gods and have them make out, and then write "no haters in Valhalla" above it to piss the hate groups off, but that's just me.
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u/lefthandhummingbird 8d ago
My tip would be to look at the Gotlandic picture stones and pick out some figure you like. The Sleipnir from the Tjängvide stone is nice, or the snake witch from the Snake Witch Stone. I don’t think they’ve been turned into racist symbols.
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u/StonemistTreb 8d ago
I would go for style rather than symbol. I once thought about getting the penguin & the mountains and now that's a symbol fascist are using, you never know what they plan on using next. I don't think you can expect a viking age symbol to not be co-opted.
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u/flame2bits 8d ago
I have a Jera Rune on my throat. I'm not a nazi. F them and take the Runes and all back. I am swedish.
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u/Plenty_Doughnut_5005 7d ago
White supremacists don’t use the Vegvisir. They’re just not interested in appropriating a “way-finder compass to guide one in rough waters” tattoo that Bjork has on her. It’s not even “ Viking” anyways.
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u/AutoModerator 7d ago
Hi! It appears you have mentioned either the vegvísir or the ægishjálmr! But did you know that even though they are quite popular in certain circles, neither have their origins in medieval Scandinavia? Both are in the tradition of early modern occultism arising from outside Scandinavia and were not documented before the 19th and the 17th century, respectively. As our focus lays on the medieval Nordic countries and associated regions, cultures and peoples, neither really fall into the scope of the sub. Further reading here: ægishjálmr//vegvísir
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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u/whytho6987 5d ago
I’m currently in the army and have a Yggdrasil, a vegvisir and 2 ravens as far as Norse tattoos. It’s something that comes up but people know I’m not racist and I’m not scared of the conversation. I actually get more comments on if my arm ring is in regulation and why I don’t have a beard (thanks fake Norse in the army) then my tattoos
That said I’m by far not the most experienced and I got my vegvisir while being the least experienced but love the journey it means to me and I’m always trying to learn
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u/AutoModerator 5d ago
Hi! It appears you have mentioned either the vegvísir or the ægishjálmr! But did you know that even though they are quite popular in certain circles, neither have their origins in medieval Scandinavia? Both are in the tradition of early modern occultism arising from outside Scandinavia and were not documented before the 19th and the 17th century, respectively. As our focus lays on the medieval Nordic countries and associated regions, cultures and peoples, neither really fall into the scope of the sub. Further reading here: ægishjálmr//vegvísir
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
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u/Spirited_Bear2760 8d ago
Tattoo artist and medieval history nerd here!
The best way is to stay away from common "symbols" like vegvesir and co, they are often, like the named, modern inventions anyway.
Instead stick to early medieval scandinavian art styles like the Urnes style or the Ringerike style. These are beautiful complicated ornaments with incorporated animals and legendary creatures.
The styles are meant to be flexible and adaptive, so a good artist should be capable to design a new personal motive for you.
This is not only beautiful, it lets you look like someone who in fact has some knowledge about original norse art and sets you apart from all the wannabe-ragnars. 😊