Category: Norse History Hub

Discover the history of the Norse and Viking Age — from warriors, culture and daily life to runes, tattoos, symbols, mythology and ancient traditions. Spans the Scandinavian Viking Age roughly from 793 to 1066 CE, characterized by seafaring, trade, exploration, and raiding across Europe, Asia, and the North Atlantic.

Did Vikings have Tattoos?

There is some evidence that Vikings may have had tattoos, although there is no archaeological proof that can confirm how common they were. One of the most important written sources is the account of Ahmad ibn Fadlan, an Arab traveler who encountered a group of Rus people in the early 10th century.

Ibn Fadlan described these people as being tall and having designs covering their bodies. He compared the markings to trees and other images and said they extended from their fingertips up toward their necks. Because the Rus were Scandinavian traders and warriors who traveled through Eastern Europe, this description is often used as evidence that at least some Vikings may have practiced tattooing.

However, Ibn Fadlan did not specifically call these people „Vikings“ and his description does not prove that all Vikings had tattoos. The exact identity of the Rus and the meaning of their body markings are also subjects of historical discussion.

Therefore, the most accurate conclusion is that tattoos among some Viking-age Scandinavians are possible and may be supported by Ibn Fadlan’s account, but there is not enough evidence to say that tattoos were common among all Vikings. When we speak of Viking Age art today, we often do
not think of a specific style, but rather generally of
intertwined bands and animal beings. Although this is
something that almost all Viking Age styles have in common,
from an art-historical perspective, these are several
different stylistic phases.

It is not about copying a historical depiction as accurately
as possible. Such a copy would already be a modern
reconstruction in itself. No artist today can fully bring
back the original perception, the craft environment, or
the cultural context in which these works were created.

We can study the historical forms, understand their
construction, and develop our own visual language from
them. This is exactly what Nordic Tattoo means to me
as well. The work is based on what already exists. On
ornaments in wood and metal, on runestones, on animal
depictions, and on the ways in which lines and forms
developed over centuries. These elements have to be understood
and reassembled. A motif can be historically inspired
without itself being a historical motif.

This essentially also corresponds to the way the art of
that time was created. They too drew upon forms that
were already known and developed them further. Influences
from elsewhere were taken up and adapted to their
own visual world. Because tradition did not mean standing
still, but further development.

A modern Nordic tattoo can therefore never truly be
“Viking Age.” It is created in another time and under
completely different conditions. But it can be created
from the same attitude. Namely, to understand existing
forms and use them to create something new and independent
that carries the old spirit within it and brings it
into the present. Everything we develop from it today is
a modern interpretation.

The History About The Runes

Many theories have been proposed about who created the runes. Some of these theories have more supporters than others, but they all share one thing in common: none of them can be proven with complete certainty. No runic inscriptions, as we recognize the runes today, can be dated with certainty to a time before 200 AD.

I choose to follow the theory that the runes were created around 100–200 AD among the Goths or other Germanic tribes living in an area north of the Black Sea. The runes may have been influenced by the Greek and Latin alphabets. There are many arguments that support this theory.

Later, the runes spread throughout central and northern Europe as these tribes migrated. They were used by the Goths, Herulers, Germans, and Frisians in southern and central Europe, as well as by the Angles and Saxons in the west. In the north, they were used by the Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish people, as well as their counterparts in Iceland and Greenland and the Sami of Lapland (northwestern Russia and northern Sweden, Norway, and Finland).

By around 300 AD, the runic alphabet was the only alphabet used in Scandinavia. However, in central Europe, the runes gradually fell out of use because of the growing popularity of the Latin alphabet, which spread along with Christianity.

Runes could be written from left to right or from right to left. They could also be written with the first sentence going from right to left and the second sentence from left to right, a style known as boustphedon. In addition, runes were sometimes written as a mirror image („venderuner“), upside down („stupruner“), or joined together („bindrunes“), such as the Norwegian Æ (A+E).

A single rune could also represent two runes. For example, the rune „FE“ could represent „FE + FE“. Runes were often written as one continuous line of text, without spaces between words or sentences. If the rune master wanted to separate words or sentences, he used a symbol similar to the letter X, or one, two, or three dots placed above one another. For example, when using two dots, he might write: „I:MAKE:SPACE:WITH:TWO:POINTS“.

There were no lowercase runes; only uppercase runes existed. There were also no strict limits on the format in which runes could be written. They could be written in many different directions and on almost any type of common material. They could be used as beautiful decorations or as hidden magical formulas.

When runes were carved into stone, the rune master created the lines by carving many individual points close together until a complete line was formed.

Four other theories about the runes

1) The Crete Theory

According to the first theory, the runes were introduced to Scandinavia during the same period when the well-known spiral ornaments were introduced from Crete, approximately 1800–400 BC. This theory suggests that the Goths were already familiar with the art of runes before they left Scandinavia, sometime between 200 BC and 200 AD. However, this theory is not as widely accepted.

2) Kjell Aartun’s Theory

Kjell Aartun is a doctor of philosophy and language researcher. In his book RUNER i kulturhistorisk sammenheng, En fruktbarhetskultisk tradisjon (Pax Forlag, Oslo 1994), he writes that he has proven that the runes were not inspired by the Greek and Latin alphabets.

Instead, he argues that the opposite is true. According to his theory, the Norwegian runes are identical to runes that were used in Semitic language areas, such as Trojan Asia Minor and Canaan (Palestine), as far back as 2000 BC.

In Aartun’s view, the runes were one of several oriental writing systems that formed the basic foundation from which the Greek and Latin alphabets later developed. He also writes that he can prove that the earliest Norwegian runic inscriptions were written in a Semitic language. He refers to known cult-based erotic texts, many of which contained sacred depictions of the act of making love.

According to Aartun, new archaeological discoveries show that many people from the Mediterranean region, especially the Cretans (who were Semitic), frequently traveled north on trading journeys. He argues that during the Migration Period, many Semitic-speaking people came to Norway.

Aartun writes that this conclusion is supported by actual facts referred to by Snorri when he says: „these Asians was called aeser(…) in the northern countries the Asians spread so much that their language was the common language in all these countries.“

Kjell Aartun’s theories are not accepted by authoritative Norwegian rune-ologists. However, his theory does have supporters, including some on the Internet site about Blekinge’s Most Ancient Runic Inscriptions.

3) Turgay Kürüm’s Theory

Turgay Kürüm of Turkey writes on his webpage that the purpose of his article is to draw readers‘ attention to the idea that the Futhark alphabet has the very same origin as the ancient Turkish inscriptions of the Gokturk alphabet.

4) The South-Scandinavian Theory

The fourth theory states that the runes created in South Scandinavia during the 300s AD were inspired by the Latin alphabet, but were adapted to a Scandinavian cultural context.

South Scandinavia was a center of runic activity in ancient times.