My ship tattoo is the simplest one I have, but it still remains my favorite. During the Vendel period, those living in what is now Scandinavia would bury their dead either in ships or ship-like vessels, seeing the ship as a transport to the next life. Even though ship burials are associated with Scandinavia history, its practice extends all the way to the Mediterranean. Author J.R.R. Tolkien used this idea while writing his Lord of the Rings series--the Grey Havens symbolizing an afterlife, and the ships which those of Middle Earth take to reach them, they are the literal manifestation of these burials.
My ship tattoo means all of this. Four years ago today, someone close to me committed suicide. It hit me hard at the time, as it did all of us who knew him. I decided to get this tattoo as a memorial for him, since his love was the water, and his ashes are spread in the Hudson at West Point. It only seemed fit, and with the added background of the ancient burials, it just felt right. I love seeing it daily, and hope he's at peace now.
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