The great north

Vestmannabjørgini (FO)

Young was I once, I walked alone,
and bewildered seemed in the way;
then I found me another and rich I thought me,
for man is the joy of man.

Hast thou a friend whom thou trustest well,
from whom thou cravest good?
Share thy mind with him, gifts exchange with him,
fare to find him oft.

 (Havamal)

Midgardsormen

Here we see another version of Jörmungand, the snake that surrounds the earth according to northern mythology.
Like Ouroboros the snake eats itself and forms the everlasting circle of recreation.

Female viking tattoo

The snake

The snake itself was done by Björka, the runes by Erik Reime, just everything from the hip down and the fine snakes are my work.

Of wolf and man

To the wolf self-pity is unknown
He will die in winter or the trap
Without a sign that he feels sorry for himself

The wolf doesn't expect to be dry, warm and well fed all the time
So rain, winter and hunger are no gates to misery for him

The wolf is always aware of the fact, that he is surrounded by predators

Man knows mercy

Thors Hammer Tattoo

Apart from being the strongest weapon in northern mythology and sign of the pagan norsemen, the Thors Hammer is also a strong fertility symbol.
An old norse marriage ritual included a Hammer, that was put in the lap of the bride.
Thors Hammer jewellery was mostly found in womens graves, by the way...

Contemporary Dotwork

Some more nice shots by Christina www.h2fotografie.blogspot.com

Symbolism: The butterfly as a symbol of transformation from a parasitic catterpillar to a stunning being, sometimes a lifelong process.

The top symbolizes the love of god radiating down to everything.

Tribute to polynesia

Pictures taken by Christina at the Tattoo Convention Frankfurt www.h2fotografie.blogspot.com

My work is only the arms, back and shoulder are just shown to give a allover impession of the piece.
You look at two sessions, each took three days and were for sure an unforgetable experience ;)

Star...

One of the samhain shots again, a dream became true...
Thanks again to Christina: h2fotografie.blogspot.com

Die Niedertracht Gottes (Loki Tattoo)

 This is Loki, the malicious one, depicted here in classic viking age weaving with his mouth sewn shut, perfest solution for people, who talk too much bullshit...

...and off course Fenriz, his son and one of the great beasts, in his mouth he has the hand of Tyr, the god of justice and war.
This is just a part of a whole tigh design, wich will contain at the end Loki and his offspring.
As you can see, it's still work in progress...

Tattoo Convention Faroe Islands

As you can see, hairy me will be at the Tattoo Convention at the Faroe Islands, look forward to be out there with you, guys:)

Check out the website: http://www.fotattfest.com/

See you...

Copenhagen Ink Festival

Off course we will participate in the Copenhagen Ink Festival, come by, say hallo and if you have a nice piece from me hop on stage and show it :)

Check out the website: http://www.inkfest.dk/

Vi ses...

Reenactors needed !

For what?

Great midsummer ritual / fotoshoot.


Where?

Near Copenhagen.


When?

 21. Juni 12:00 (Midsummer)


What is happening?

Like so many sources show (Adam from Bremen, Thietmar of Merseburg, Picture stones, tapestrys) the vikings had some kind of sacrifical ritual, that included suspending people in trees.
That s what we want to do. In cooperation with bodyextremes.com and h2fotografie.blogspot.com nine volunteers will get pierced and hanged during a midsummer ritual.

What do we need you for?

We need you as the crowd of warriors and people participating, watching and cheering up the"victims" and as perfect background for an event, that didn't take place around 1000 years!
Off course in the dress of the vikings.

What do you gain from it?

There will be a tombola for all participants, where you can win some tattoo time with Kai and other attractive things.
There will be free mead and a nice gathering afterwards.
Musicians welcome!
There will be unfortunately no fonds for accomodation etc.


So, if you and your group want to come, just drop me a mail: tattookai@live.dk to receive all further informations.
DO NOT TRY TO MAKE CONTACT VIA FACEBOOK!!!

Hope to see a lot of you for a great time:)

Kai

Oseberg tapestry, showing people hanging in trees

Stora Hammar picture stone, showing suspended and sacrificed people, warrior crowd

http://tattoodk.blogspot.dk/2012/12/ohne-schmerzen-keine-freude.html

Yggdrasil tattoo

Like so many designs, this one is also very complex, every element has a deeper meaning in it, wich would be too much to write it down here and too personal.
The runes are the first line of this poem:

Men endelig 

Forsto jeg 

Treets språk

Og det avslørte sin kjærlighet

Til vinterens grove favn.

Forelsket fortalte det

Og frostens

Barske kjærtegn

Som gav det

Moten og kraften

Til sommerens 

Frodige mirakler


 Bjørn Richter

Passage

Replace fear of the unknown with curiosity...

shamanic tattoos

The bear, depictet in a celtic style from the La Tène period, it's a good friend to have as spirit animal ;)

Mjöllnir Tattoo

Von der Menschen Verdorbenheit

Glyptotek (DK)

Der Unweise wähnt wohlgesonnen sich
Alle, die ihn anlächeln
Wohl weiß er nicht
Das sie üble Nachrede üben
Wenn er den Rücken ihnen zuwendet
Was einer nur weiß
Bleibt verborgen
Wissen's dreie aber, weiß es das Dorf
Windzeit, Wolfzeit, Wehzeit
Masken fallen, Fesseln fallen
Bruder wendet Waffe und Wort gegen Bruder
Das stille Auge des Sturmes
Ist Heervaters Heimat
Wenn der Wütende die Welt zerweht


(Ofnir)

Eisprinzessin

One of my personal favourites, an entirely handmade design, based on the tattoos from the Pazyryc Iron Age culture.
The pictures were taken during the Samhain session by Christina www.h2fotografie.blogspot.com
More amazing photography work on her site, featuring the Ice Princess also...;)

A real viking tattoo

This design is based on ornaments, that were found on the orkney islands.

...some school scribble scrabble

Rune tattoo

Dann zeigt sich´s recht
wenn du nach Runen fragst,
den raterentsproßnen,
wie sie wirkten Waltmächte
und sie zog der Zauberherr
wer Verstand hat, bleibt stumm.

(Edda translation Felix Genzmer 1920)

Check out, what this hand does ;) : danotattoo.com

Algizhjelmet tattoo

                                   A black metal version of an old scandinavian magic symbol...

Vendel Age Birds Tattoo

Typical birds from the Vendel age (550-793, actually pre-viking age), freshly designed by me along the traditional styles.
Birds like that are found all over Europe, like in Sutton Hoo, Välsgarde and off course the overwhelming Staffordshire hoard.

step by step

That's how you built up a sleeve: visit me regularly, get a bit done, having a good time and continue doing that.
Unavoidable you will end up with some nice ink and good memories.
Just want to send out a big THANK YOU again to all of you who come and visit me from all over, for your patience, til I finally aswer your mails, for supporting me and giving me a good time, when I travel myself.
Love you all out there :)

It's not about the hair....

I know, it's a stupid haircut, but I'm so not a hairdresser and don't even charge extra for shaving, so what can one expect ;)?

A winter's dream

Oslo (NO)

While demons roam in my territory

I'm gone and happy about it

While demons molest my kin

I'm gone and leave footprints in the northern snow

While demons remain in everlasting torture

I'm gone and enjoy the wintersun

Ice is not to be trusted in winter's beginning

So is the woman's mind after many years

A blade is not to be trusted before the battle is won

So a man shall trust his own power and spirit only

Ice is the sickness of snakes

Sunbeams pierce the heart of the Snowqueen

Triumph follows the Unjust

Who loves others like himself

Deception is retribution for lies

Ignorance the most devastating weapon

The eagle does not fear the snake

Hate is the king of the worms

It feeds from your entrails
Your arch enemy the best teacher

(Ofnir)

Urnes tattoo

This tattoo is based strictly on the ornaments, one can find at the stave church of Urnes, Norway, wich was built around1130 and is probably the oldest stavechurch on norvegian ground.

Detail of the church, showing the intertwining, gripping and biting dragons.

Germanic tattoos

.

These tattoos are based on so called "durchbrochene Zierscheiben" , mainly found in Allamanic graves, some originals shown below.

(picture source of originals: Wikipedia)