Tatuesday

I spent Tuesday afternoon finalizing a tattoo for a friend. He requested Mjolnir, the Hammer of Thor, (made by the dwarven brothers Sindri and Brokkr) being lifted by the Ravens, Huginn and Muninn.

Huginn represents Thought and Muninn represents Memory, so the client asked for “thought’ to be looking downward and “memory” to be looking backwards.

I was surprised to learn about Mjolnir. It’s representation in Norse artwork was not what I expected. The handle is short, due to a mishap at the forge. It’s often decorated in popular culture with Celtic symbols, which makes no sense to me. I kept a braid on the hammer head but added different decorations to the handle. Simplicity was requested.

Mjölnir is usually interpreted as meaning “That which smashes”. I love that.

Here’s the drawing the client gave me:

Here’s the initial sketch:

And here’s the permanent thing (a little intimidating, permanency)
Now, I commend it into the hands of another artist to embellish the client’s arm!