This tattoo pictures Baldr’s death, a further step towards Ragnarok. Baldur’s death serves as the primary catalyst and first major sign of the events leading directly to Ragnarök in Norse mythology. (Baldr is the name in Old Norse language)

The beloved god of light and son of Odin and Frigg, had nightmares about his own death. Frigg extracted an oath from every living and inanimate thing in existence promising never to harm Baldur, but except for the mistletoe, which she deemed too small and harmless to bother asking. The trickster god Loki discovered this single weakness. He fashioned a dart or spear from Mistletoe and tricked Baldur’s blind brother, Höðr, into throwing it at Baldur, killing him instantly.

Odin sent Hermðr to the underworld (Hel) to plead for Baldur’s return. Hel agreed to release him only if every single thing in the world wept for him. Disguised as a giantess named Þökk (Thökk), Loki refused to cry, leaving Baldur trapped in the underworld. The gods recognized Baldur’s death as the point of no return.

It directly sets off the breakdown of the worlds order and we all experience right now what happens if the order is shattered. But the potential in creating something new after a certain event of death is high.

Ancientskin | Norse & Historical Tattoos | Specialized in Handpoke Tattoos but I also do Machine tattoos. Based in Svenljunga, Västra Götaland, Sweden.

Misteltoe Picture: ©Tubifex Creative Commons CC-BY-SA-3.0

norsetattoo #vikingart #norsemythology #handpoketattoo #historicaltattoo

Tattooing without a machine is not a modern alternative to machine tattooing. It is, in fact, one of the oldest methods of permanently marking the skin. Long before the invention of the electric tattoo machine, tattoos were created entirely by hand. Across different cultures and periods, a wide variety of tools were used for this purpose, including thorns, sharpened bone, wood, and other natural materials. Although these methods differed considerably, they shared the same fundamental principle. The pigment was introduced into the skin through a series of deliberate, individual dots.

Modern handpoke tattooing follows this same basic principle while using contemporary materials and professional standards. Sterile tattoo needles and professional tattoo pigments are used, just as they may be in machine tattooing. The fundamental difference is therefore not necessarily the needle or the pigment, but the way in which the needle is operated and the pigment is deposited into the skin.

In handpoke tattooing, the needle is guided entirely by hand, without the use of an electric tattoo machine. Each dot I do is made individually, introducing a small amount of pigment into the skin. Only as much as needed to create the picture. Through the accumulation of these individual points, lines, textures, and solid areas are gradually formed into the finished tattoo. The process is slow, deliberate, and highly tactile and even meditating. Every single dot is placed consciously and has its purpose.

Machine tattooing, by contrast, uses a mechanically driven needle that moves rapidly in and out of the skin. Depending on the machine, its configuration, and the technique being used, the needle may move at a very high frequency, allowing hundreds of individual punctures to be made within a short period of time. In handpoke tattooing, there is no continuous mechanical movement. The rhythm of the work is instead determined entirely by the hand of the tattooer.

This difference creates a distinct working process. Handpoke tattoos can require more time to complete, particularly when working with larger or highly detailed designs. At the same time, the slower pace allows the tattooer to directly control every individual puncture, including its placement, angle, depth, and spacing. For many practitioners, this direct relationship between hand, needle, and skin is an essential part of the craft.

The way the skin is treated can also differ. Because handpoke tattooing does not involve a rapidly oscillating needle moving continuously across the same area, the mechanical stress placed on the skin can, when performed correctly, be comparatively limited. This should not be understood to mean that handpoke tattooing is painless or inherently gentler in every situation. The condition of the skin after a tattoo depends on many factors, including needle choice, technique, depth, pressure, the number of passes over an area, the design itself, and the individual’s skin. Professional tattooing therefore requires careful technique and a thorough understanding of how the skin responds and heals, regardless of the method used.

Historically, handpoke tattooing is perhaps better understood not as an alternative to tattooing, but as a continuation of one of its original forms. The materials, hygiene practices, and tools used today are fundamentally different from those available to tattooers centuries or millennia ago. The underlying principle, however, remains similar, because the pigment is placed into the skin through repeated, controlled punctures made by hand.

The term “stick and poke” is sometimes used informally to describe this method. While widely understood, it is a more casual and negative expression and does not fully reflect the craftsmanship, respect or historical depth of the practice. Terms such as “handpoke,” “hand-poked tattooing,” or “machine-free tattooing” more accurately describe the technique itself.

Handpoke tattooing is not machine tattooing performed at a slower speed. It is a distinct way of working in which the entire process is governed by the movement of the hand. Every dot, line, and passage of pigment is created individually. The slower rhythm becomes part of the method itself, connecting contemporary tattoo practice with a tradition that predates the electric tattoo machine by thousands of years.

Modern handpoke tattooing combines an ancient principle with contemporary materials, knowledge, and hygiene standards.

This is Colin Dale | Skin & Bone tattooing on the Historical Market in Copenhagen.

Handpoked Wolf, Runes by machine. This nordic tattoo was made for a lovely guy from france coming all the way over to sweden to connect with his roots. Half swedish, half french – so we decided to get inspired by a famous runestone, which propably depicts a wolf, maybe Fenrir. The Tullstorpstenen. The inscription on the Tullstorp Runestone consists of runic text on a serpent band that frames a central image consisting of a ship and a beast, which has been described as being a wolf. The stone is granite and 1.7 meters in height, and the inscription is classified as being carved in runestone style Pr1, which is also known as Ringerike style.

The Tullstorp Runestone is a Viking Age memorial runestone, listed as DR 271 in the Rundata catalog, that is located in Tullstorp, which is about twenty kilometers east of Trelleborg, Skåne County, Sweden, and in the historic province of Scania.

🇸🇪 Tullstorpstenen, med signum DR 271, är en runsten som står på Tullstorps kyrkogård i Tullstorps socken och Trelleborgs kommun i Skåne. Dess ursprungliga plats är okänd.

Picture of the runestone: Sven Rosborn Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported – Thank you!

Nordic tattoo in Sweden – Jormungandr and a Seal – A sleeve dedicated to Rán, the goddess of the sea. In Norse mythology, Rán is a goddess and personification of the sea. Rán and her husband Ægir, a jötunn who also personifies the sea, produced together nine daughters who personify the sea waves. Rán also has a son Snær who personifies the snow. Rán may also be the mother of the beautiful jötunn Gerðr, wife of the god Freyr. The goddess is frequently associated with a net, which she uses to capture sea-goers. According to the prose introduction to a poem in the Poetic Edda and in Völsunga saga, Rán once loaned her net to the god Loki.

Jelling Style (900—975) Wolf with Mushrooms. The Viking art style Jellinge is a phase of Scandinavian animal art that took place during the late 10th century. Bridging the earlier Borre style with the later Mammen style, it is characterized by ribbon-like stylized animal motifs and band-shaped bodies of animals. It was originally applied to a variety of objects in Jelling, Denmark, such as Gorm’s Cup by King Gorm and Harald Bluetooth’s great runestone, but more recently the style is included in the Mammen style.

Nordic tattoos inspired by the past, nature, mushrooms, folk art, symbolism, runestones and nordic mythology. I am based in Sweden, Västra Götaland. Visit us in Sweden!