Badass Tattoos on Medievalists

Medievalists have the most badass tattoos.* Are you a medievalist? Do you have a tattoo? If yes, we want your tattoo here! Please submit your tattoo to this blog! Tell a story about it: what it is, why it's important to you, why you got it, anything else. *If you have a tattoo of a medieval subject but are not yourself a medievalist, we'll PROBABLY accept your tattoo. :D And if you're a tattooed medievalist but your ink isn't medieval-themed, that's okay too.

[the-mad-owl]

You named your chickens after the apostles?

New tattoo reveal! It's a chicken! A pentiment chicken!

Pentiment was such an incredible game and the art was so good I knew I wanted to get a tattoo of it, but I didn't know what to get for so long. It needed to be something that represented the art style to me, what the game meant to me, something I wanted on my body. Anyway, I ended up with this chicken.

1. My family has had chickens for many years, but they were all killed by a fox recently. I miss them very much, so this is for them also.

2. Big Jorg naming the "girls" after the apostles is one of my favourite conversations in the game and I wish he would take my support seriously (╥_╥)

3. The Pentiment chickens are the most chicken chickens I have ever seen. The way they move. The way they vacantly stare at you. The constant chicken background noise. They look so stupid. Every time a chicken in this game was on screen while I was playing, I was happy. I am obsessed with these chickens.

4. I ended up literally dreaming of getting this specific chicken tattooed on my arm after weeks of consideration.

So now! It's here! On my body! Chicken :D

[theinquisitxor]

Researcher and doctorate @NoraEpstein on Twitter just posted a video of the new tattoo she got commemorating her PhD.

And… she footnoted the artwork, with a literal footnote 😂 I love this so much

[medievalisttattoos]

Over a year ago I got the left in Japan. I was named after Sir Gawain and got these as a tribute to that. (Not the best pictures I know)

Thanks to @nosniborniawag for submitting your work!

[pr1nceshawn]

Tattoos That Turned People’s Scars Into Works Of Art.

[greeneyes-anddimples]

I’m shooooook. Wow.

[medievalisttattoos]

So after 3 years, and finishing the dissertation, the back and armbands are done. My artist, Matt, has faithfully done each bit, but I haven’t given him much free reign, so for for my 42nd birthday, I told him he could do anything he wanted for the space on left shoulder as long as it was devil themed. This was what he made for me.

Thanks, Karra! Find her on Twitter: @DoctorDeulis

[medievalisttattoos]

Maybe not quite medieval but this is my Tudor Rose tattoo!! I studied abroad in London this last semester and it was a period of huge personal growth for me so I wanted to get a tattoo to commemorate it. I’ve been interested in English history (especially the early Tudor period) forever so this design was a nod to that. The ink is vegan, too, which is important to me. :) 

[mayalaen]

I’ve been asked many times what someone should look for when trying to find a good artist. The best way you can do this is to look at their portfolio, whether it’s in a book at their shop or online. If they don’t have good work in their portfolio, they’re probably not good artists.

The shop may be clean, the people there might be nice, and the design they draw up for you might be exactly what you want, but if your artist doesn’t stand up to the points listed above, then you’re going to get a bad tattoo.

It’s okay to walk into a shop, talk with an artist for a while, and decide you don’t want a tattoo from them. Even if the artist has a bad attitude about it or tries to convince you to just let them do it, remember this is going to be on your body for the rest of your life.

[unforth-ninawaters-deactivated2]

This is fucking fantastic thank you!!

[library-mermaid-blog]

A little girl and her mom were looking at me at the coffee shop this morning and I heard her mom say “go on, it’s ok!” and the little girl shuffled up to me and said “ex-cuse me please, do you have to put on your tattoos by yourself every DAY or does your mom help you?” I am d y i n g

[blackbird-brewster]

My niece was in the bathroom when I was in the tub and she asked if my tattoos would wash off. I told her they won’t, I’ll have them my whole life.

She asked, “Even when you die?”

I said, “Yes”

She looked me dead in the eye and said, “When you’re space dust your tattoos will be stars”

[cheekbonejangles]

“WHEN YOU’RE SPACE DUST YOUR TATTOOS WILL BE STARS.“

[medievalisttattoos]

Medievalists with Tattoos.

Hi, 

This is my Shakespeare tattoo, the line is from “As You Like It.” I have a BA in late Byzantine history and I’m a long time medieval re-enactor, living in Australia. I got it as a gift to myself for my 30th birthday, because writing is a big part of my life. It was done by Simone Hede at House of Daggers Tattoo Collective in South Australia. 

My twitter is @brbsiberia.

[mrpjeagle]

Costume design based from old illuminated manuscripts. #tattoo #tattoos #tattooartist #tattooshop #artist #art #ottawa #ottawatattoo #ottawaart #illuminatedmanuscript #filigree #filigreetattoo #girlswithtattoos (at Living Colour Tattoo Studio)

[fixedthatforya]

My newest tattoo is based on the colourful designs in the margins of illuminated manuscripts. These medieval documents bring together several of my obsessions: history, art, religious texts, and typography.

The artist is PJ Eagle of Living Colour in Ottawa, Canada.

[medievalisttattoos]

Thanks @fixedthatforya for bringing this to my attention!

[medievalisttattoos]

Demons from the Guthlac Roll

Thanks to Karra for sharing her new work!

[upennmanuscripts]

9th Annual Lawrence J. Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age November 17-19, 2016 Reactions: Medieval/Modern In partnership with the Rare Book Department of the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Schoenberg Institute of Manuscript Studies (SIMS) at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries is pleased to announce the 9th Annual Lawrence J. Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age. This year’s theme, “Reactions: Medieval/Modern,” gives us space to explore the many and varied ways that people have reacted to, and acted upon, manuscripts from the Middle Ages up to today. Reactions take many forms. They include the manipulation of physical objects through, for example, the marking up of texts, addition of illustrations, the disbinding of books or rebinding of fragments, as well as the manipulation of digital objects, thanks to new technologies involved in digitization, ink and parchment analysis, virtual reconstruction, among many other processes. This symposium will also tackle how popular culture has reacted to manuscripts over time as witnessed by their use and appearance in books, games, films, and tattoo art. Our keynote speaker will be Michelle P. Brown, Professor emerita of Medieval Manuscript Studies at the School of Advanced Study, University of London, and former Curator of Manuscripts at the British Library. For more information and to register, visit the website: http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/lectures/ljs_symposium9.html.

There is also a Reactions to Manuscripts Tumblr: http://reactionstomanuscripts.tumblr.com/

[mediumaevum]

Inside the World’s Only Surviving Tattoo Shop For Medieval Pilgrims

The Razzouk family has been inking religious pilgrims in the Middle East for 700 years

A tiny shop, almost dwarfed by its prominent sign, lies across a quiet cobblestone road. If you didn’t know anything about the incredible, centuries-long history of the family who runs this particular shop, the sign’s tagline might cause you to do a double-take: “Tattoo With Heritage Since 1300” it reads. Read on

[medievalisttattoos]

Tattoo on my calf of the demon Python. Done by Buck Miller at Blaque Owl Tattoo in Missoula,MT. (My history blog is @historicalboner)

[medievalisttattoos]

I got this tat a couple of weeks ago to mark the completion of my PhD in medieval literature. It’s the first line from Chaucer’s Parlament of Foules, and I felt that the appropriation of Hippocrates’ aphorism is thematically appropriate for both Chaucer’s work and grad school in general.

I got the tattoo as an active reminder of what I’ve done and what I still have to do, which is why I put it in a fairly visible spot. I gave up a lot to pursue the PhD, like most of us, and I did it as a first generation college student. Despite all of my work, impostor syndrome sometimes crops up to make me doubt how I’ve gotten here. But I know that I’ve accomplished a lot. In the past year I’ve completed my PhD and in just a few weeks I start a tenure track job at a state university. I got this tattoo to remind me, when impostor syndrome rears its ugly head, to tell it:

 Thanks to David Sweeten!

[tattoolit]

From “Return of the King”, by J.R.R. Tolkien:

“Begone, foul dwimmerlaik, lord of carrion! Leave the dead in peace!”

A cold voice answered: ‘Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shriveled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye.”

A sword rang as it was drawn. “Do what you will; but I will hinder it, if I may.”

“Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!”

Then Merry heard of all sounds in that hour the strangest. It seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel.

“But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund’s daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.” ———-

The Witch-King of Angmar is the Lord of the Nazgûl, the second most evil character in the LOTR trilogy. When he appears, men tremble and flee. This is probably for the best, because there is a thousand-year-old prophesy about the Witch-King:

Far off yet is his doom, and not by the hand of man will he fall.

During the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, the Nazgûl attacked and King Théoden was mortally wounded. As usual, the men ran away in terror, leaving a single soldier to challenge the Nazgûl. The Witch-King advanced on the soldier, threatening torture and referring to the prophesy, which he believed made him deathless. The soldier then revealed herself to be a woman, Théoden’s niece Éowyn. The Witch-King hesitated but attacked her, and she destroyed him by driving her sword between his crown and mantle.

The line reminds me of three things: 1. Never assume a woman can’t succeed where many others have lost their courage. 2. When your enemies think they’re about to defeat you, sometimes the best course of action is to laugh at them and stab them in the face. 3. Always – always! – make sure you know the exact wording of the prophesy.

[medievalisttattoos]

Brought to my attention by @fixedthatforya! Thank you!

[medievalisttattoos]

Empty Queue

Hi everyone--

Thanks to everyone who submitted their beautiful tattoos! I have really enjoyed posting them all and getting to see everyone’s amazing ink.

The queue for this blog is now empty, but that doesn’t mean the project is finished! As long as people keep submitting their tattoos, I will keep posting! I would love it if this blog could keep running for a while yet. You can still submit here, or contact me on twitter: @izzybeth

Please stay tuned, same tat-time, same tat-channel!