I changed my religion to Norse. I wanted a Fenrir tattoo to symbolize this change. This tattoo means, “Not all who wander are lost.” The quote is from Lord of the Rings. If you are “wandering,” it kind of means, you are dead in the Norse religion. I eventually want another tattoo on the other side with Odin and his ravens.

Helm of Awe and Norse Rune Circle. I have been working with the runes since my infancy as a heathen. I mainly got it as a sign of pride for my spiritual identity. For most of my life, I have been indecisive and unsure. It had been 7 years since I became a heathen. I decided, why not get a simple tattoo? Even if I go beyond the heathen path, I will always remember this as an exceptional time in my life. It doesn’t look like something I would leave on bad terms with.

This tattoo used to be a dragon with a yin and yang. That was because I studied martial arts. It was a family crest of the people with whom I studied martial arts.

These tattoos are showing the ugly side of people and life.

The four-leaf clovers represent my Irish side.

Huginn and Muninn are the people and Odin’s informers. They send messages to Odin. I got this tattoo to connect, memorize, and understand their stories. Ravens are what I call snitches. They go back and tell Odin everything. They have Huginn and Muninn written in Norse runes.

Thor’s Hammer. Thor is the protector. He stands up for everyone. I follow Thor.
I am an Odinist. I believe in Odin, but Thor is also one of my prominent patrons.

KBM is my daughter, who passed away. When she passed, I got the Celtic cross tattoo to represent her. She was half-German and half-Irish.

Irish Triskel. I studied Irish Celtic paganism for a long. I got this because it represents the way life ends.

The leaves are for the process of life. Like everything, much like a leaf turns, a human’s life revolves. As a human gets older, they have different things that are important in their life. I got this tattoo when I was in my early 30’s. I want to add more colors to represent getting older. The entire tattoo will eventually be brown to symbolize the passage through life.

This Viking is a symbol of warrior status because I served in the military.

Helm of Awe. This tattoo is for my protection. The Helm of Awe has always been put in something as far as protection when you go places. A lot of people wear it under their helmets when they ride bikes. They use it because protection is what it symbolizes. It is for protection.

This tattoo is a Norse Compass surrounded by Odin’s Wolves, Freki and Geri; and Odin’s Ravens, Huginn, and Muninn. It symbolizes staying straight. Stay on the same path that we’re on.

The bear claws were for when I served in Washington State. I was with a lot of Native Americans. This tattoo was to connect to the Native Americans. I have been through a few smudgings before. My first totem was a bear.

This is part 3 of Old Man finds a Wanderer. You can find part 1 here, and part 2 here.

Wolf with two ravens tattoo: One of the ravens is near the wolf’s head speaking to the wolf. The wolf is following the raven that is futher away.

Wolf attacking tattoo: The idea the is both of the wolves are the same wolf engaged in different acts. This wolf is actively attacking and engaging in combat. The wolf is fulfilling their role which is to destroy. The wolf with ravens is engaged in hunting.  The wolf is receiving guidance from one raven and following the second raven. In the wild ravens will go and find a dead body. The ravens will then start cawing to call wolves. The wolves tear open the corps eat, the ravens eat what remains. Wolves will follow ravens because they know they will find something to eat when they do. The spiritual view is these ravens are guiding this wolf towards its lawful pray. They are guiding it to towards the fulfillment if its purpose, which is to find and eliminate its pray.

Horn Triskelion tattoo: This is the three horns that contain the mead of poetry. The three horns being Odrerir, Bodn, and Sodn. The horns had the mead of poetry, that Gunnlod was guarding. Odin ended up winning the mead, drinking the mead, and heading back to Asgard. It symbolizes that rich spiritual inspiration. This was needed to counter point the Troll Cross tattoo below.

Troll Cross tattoo: The Troll Cross was traditionally an iron cross that was twisted into a variation of the Odal rune. The prongs at the bottom twist inwards instead of outwards. This gives it a reminiscent of ovaries. The reason why Gothi got this tattoo. It was a representation of the ancestral family line feminine spiritual protection connected to the Vanir. The triskelion was originally a Celtic symbol that was adopted by the Norse. It has a lot of connections to Freya, and has a lot to do with harmony. Reasoning behind this was a deal with Freya. There are very specific vulnerabilities, which Gothi found out the hard way. There are things Gothi can not fight, that can ruin their day. For the things that Gothi can not fight but can effect them. Gothi looks to Freya for protection from these things.

Hugin and Munin tattoos: By placing Hugin and Munin on their body they are in a way attempting to emulate Odin. Gothi was access to these ravens, Gothi thinks and remembers, on a much smaller scale. Gothi would also like access to Odin’s ravens get little bits of the big picture. That maybe Gothi’s own thinking and remembering would not get them. The ravens are placed on Gothi’s back in a way that they are circling all of the other tattoos on their back.

Bind Rune: The bind rune consists of Othala, Algiz, and Sowilo. The reason for getting this tattoo. Gothi wanted a solid connection from their roots manifested up to Algiz. From there Sowilo the light coming down. A connection from the roots of Gothi’s being to top of their potential. The reason it looks the way it does. Is there is two of each rune for balance.