There are many stories that have come down to us regarding the Berserkirs, semi-legendary figures, ferocious warriors shrouded in mystery and consecrated to Wotan.
It is said that these figures were related to bears and that they dressed in the skins of these animals to enter a state of fury before going into battle.
This tattoo was born from a very ambitious idea, Emanuele in fact brought me some finds from the Vendel era that he wanted to merge in a project with elements of Viking art in Mammen style.
What resulted is a mix of several things: the figure of the berserker on the chest comes from the Torslunda plaques, four bronze molds now exhibited in the Stockholm museum which are presumed to represent traditional scenes from Germanic mythology and are famous, among others. things, for being one of the very few surviving representations of berserkers.
For the decoration on the front paws of the bear I copied as much as possible from brooches of the same era, adapting the shapes to the figure while for the ornament that wraps the arm, a brooch found in Austris, Gotland was of fundamental importance and a source of inspiration for me.
Bears are, in fact, a rarity in Viking art and the brooch in question is a very interesting exception, because it doesn't even represent 12!
