Swedish Vikings

[hammerdownnow]

De foro manligen fj?rran efter guld och ?sterut g?vo ?rnen f?da
De dogo s?derut i S?rkland.

"Like men they travelled far for gold, And in the east they fed the eagle,
In the south they died, in Serkland".

Inscription in a stone outside Gripsholms castle.



Quote:"The Arabic messenger Ibn Fadlan, who was in Bulgar during the summer of 922, saw the Vikings arrive, and he wrote: "I have never before seen such perfect bodies; they were tall like palm trees, blonde, with a few of them red. They do not wear any jackets or kaftaner, the men instead wear dress which covers one side of the body but leaves one hand free. Every one of them brings with him an Axe, a sword and a knife. They never leave these things. Their swords are broad, grooved, and of French make. From their bellies to their necks they are tattooed in green with trees and other pictures. All of their women have a small box attached over the breast. This can be made of iron, silver, copper or gold. On each box there is a ring to which a small knife is attached. Around their necks they wear necklaces of gold and silver."

The history forum

Some of it sounds like scenes from "The 13th Warrior"

[J.Arthur Loose]

"13th Warrior," is based on Michael Chrichton's Eaters of the Dead.

The first three chapters of the book are based on an actual account from an Arab travelling chronicler, Ibn Fadlan describing a group of Swedish Rus he encounters. They invite him to a funeral for their Warband leader and the details include hallucinogenic ritual group sex with a volunteer slave-girl who is strangled & stabbed by an old woman called "The Angle of Death." The actual quote from the slave-girl forms the basis for the "Lo! There I see my forbears," crap in the movie.

Anyway, the movie leaves out all the stuff that's actually based on a fairly reliable account and quickly moves into the fantasy stuff.

[hammerdownnow]

I like how they corrupted "The Angle of Death" to "The Angel of Death." Good example of , lost in translation.

[J.Arthur Loose]

Originally Posted by hammerdownnow

I like how they corrupted "The Angle of Death" to "The Angel of Death." Good example of , lost in translation.

Dammit, I'm usually good with my typos.

What is the proper Angle of Death, anyway?

[Dodd]

42....degrees!

Given their origin, wound't it be 'Angeln of death'?
Wheeeeee....

[inhaled a lot of BAD while grinding out 37 wood knife blanks in the past 3 hours]

[J.Arthur Loose]

You know, it was that Fadlan guy's quote that got me all fired up for my tattoo project. Here's the translation I'm more familiar with:

(who confuses toes with bellies, anyway? Some descriptions say "fingers to necks," so maybe it's just "extremities.")

Each man, from the tip of his toes to his neck,
is covered in dark-green lines, pictures and such like.

-Ibn Fadlan, Arabic chronicler, 921 CE.,
on the subject of the Swedish Rus.




I'm taking some artistic ####### and getting into more colors.

One year down. Two or three more to go...

[J.Arthur Loose]

Dang, I gotta re-pierce that other nipple.

Makes me look like a wuss who could only do one.

[hammerdownnow]

Glad you started posting on your tattoo progress over here. I have meant to comment about your artist of choice being a living legend in the tattoo community. Awesome choice for an artist. A wuss could not be able take that work on the collar bone. I would be glad to be done with it.

I was assuming Angle was correct. Did the Vikings know of angles? Do muslims believe in Angels? I have seen it spelled Angle in several different writings and have wondered about whether if it is Angel,should it be more correctly. "The Death Fairy" Any thoughts? I really have no clue.

[cwp]

That's alright Jol, at least you can still take your shirt off in public without scaring the nieghborhood children and making the women burst out laughing (or was that gagging I heard)

Anyway, like the way the ink is going.

--Carl

[J.Arthur Loose]

"Angle," was my typo.

(But it's funny.)

Dodd, I'm going to have to disagree with you on the Angle of Death being "42."

After much research involving obscure books I'm going to have to say it's "33."

The Angles, oddly were a Germanic tribe who, among others, came to form the Anglo-Saxons in Britain. Anecdotally I have heard that the word is indeed connected to "Angels." I don't know if this is really true.

There is a theory that the name of the Angles came from Germanic words for "narrow" (compare German eng = "narrow"), and meant "the people who live beside the Narrow [Water]", i.e. beside the Schlei estuary.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angles

Anyway... she is called "The Angel of Death."

Thanks on the tattoo, Hammerdown. I should really get some close-ups in good light as the color work is really nice and really subtle. Juli said she wants the final product to "shimmer," like an opal and it already does.

Edited for another jhgF@!! typo.

[Drunkenduck]

Hammerdown, Muslims beleave that you have an angle on each shoulder. One records your good deeds and the other records your bad deeds. That is why towards the end of their prayers they look to the right and left, to acknowledge their angles. These angels will read from their books on the Day of Judgement and God will decide whether you go to heaven or hell.

Doug Lester

[Jeff Pringle]

Dang, I gotta re-pierce that other nipple.

Makes me look like a wuss who could only do one.

I think asymmetry is important, even in piercings?.and since when do you care what other people think?

[J.Arthur Loose]

I'm toying with symmetry with the tattoo, but there need to be visual *points* of symmetry...

Anyone seen the Scythian Chieftain?

The Ice Princess, or the Iceman?

I find the Scythian examples most intriguing, as the tattoos directly compare to the artwork expressed in other mediums. It's why I'm really exploring Urnes in both my tattoo and my artwork in general... it's time to pick up that Romanticism ball and play with it some more.

[Drac]

Nice tattoos Jol.

I want to cover one on my shoulder. Since I still live in the broom closet outside my house I wanted something on my faith but not something most people would recognize so I'm going to use a triskelion. I've researched artist in this area and found what seems to be the best in the area but he is of the Christian faith and doesn't have a good idea of symbols in the Pagan faiths so I'll have to supply the idea. Main problem is it has to be a solid piece to cover the old one and all the drawings I've found look like they come out of a clip art book, no heart to them .

Jim

[J.Arthur Loose]

You gotta design it. I'm doing the design work on mine, but I'm lucky... Juli has an amazing eye and right away got the subtleties of the style. She definitely tweaks the final product.

Faith is faith in the best of worlds; ask the tattoo artist up front if he thinks he would do a good job.