Tattooing in Eddis

by Twowho

Summary:

A look into the real-world historical influences of the tradition of tattoos in Eddis, as well as what information we receive in Return of the Thief, to provide inspiration for anyone to create their own Eddisian-style tattoo.

Notes:

• For justonevambrace, SpaceJackalope.

Real World History

In Greek culture, tattoos were used to mark criminals or they identified someone as a foreigner. Two of Greece’s close neighbors, the Thracians and the Scythians, were known for having tattoos.

Thrace

Present-day southeastern Bulgaria, northeastern Greece, and the European part of Turkey - all north of the waterways leading from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea
Thracian women, also known as Maenads, were often depicted on Greek pottery with tattoos. Generally, these were small shapes running down the arms and/or legs of women attacking Orpheus.

Fig 1. A tattooed maenad slaying Orpheus
(Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Berlin, Germany).

Fig 2. Orpheus attacked by Thracian Women (Getty Museum)

Fig 3. Three women with complex tattoos on their arms and legs (University of Amsterdam)

Scythia

Nomadic horse people from the western and northern shores of the Black Sea, to the east
In contrast, we know of Scythian tattoos today because we’ve found bodies of (far Eastern) Scythians, who have tattoos. Tattooing seems to be common between women and men of the culture and were complex designs featuring animals.

Fig 4. Scythian/Pazyryk "Princess Ukok" tattoos, Altai Mountains

Fig 5. Tattoos of a Scythian-Saka leader from the second Pazyryk burial mound, Altai Mountains

Greece

The final real-world inspiration for Eddisian tattoos is the art of Greece. In our world, Greece was a Roman protectorate from 146 BC, and with the downfall of Rome became part of the Eastern Roman/Byzantine Empire and was relatively prosperous and withstood many invasions until the Ottomans conquered by the 1500s. In the world of The Queen’s Thief, the Little Peninsula was invaded but remained independent after the invaders left - Eddis in particular keeping true to the old gods and their traditions.

With this in mind, we can use the pottery, mosaics, and coinage of Greece to inspire our small details, perfect for tattoos.

Here are some samples:

Fig 6. Sampling of ornamentation found on Greek pottery

Fig 7. Samples of some of the many animals on Greek pottery and jewelry.

Eddis

The final consideration, of course, is what’s said about the tattoos within the QT books themselves, specifically Return of the Thief:

• One gets them at specific times and for very specific reasons. (Gen, RoTT 178)
• The one that goes here,” he said as he raked the point of his hook lightly across the skin above the armband, “is inked when a boy enters the training house with the other boys his age. (Gen, RoTT 178)
• And the one higher on the shoulder?"
  “That is to honor the first man an Eddisian kills.” (Attolia and Gen, RoTT 179)
• After the Eddisian trial by combat Cleon tried to persuade the king that he should have the appropriate tattoos to commemorate the trial. (RoTT 271)
• Thalas, Hephestia’s warrior priest, has a zigzagging line in blue at the corner of his left eye. (RoTT 249)

Training House Tattoo

Facts: Boys enter the training house at 7ish years old. The way Gen is described gesturing at his arm is telling - he points to his left arm, as he’s using his hook, and it goes across his skin above the armband (a heavy, figured silver band just above his elbow [ROTT 178]), which implies a banded tattoo around the middle bicep area of his left arm.The other consideration is how tattoos stretch and deform over time, especially growth - seven years old to adulthood is a lot of growing.

Assumptions: Gen said he missed the initiation into the boy’s house and thus the tattoo, so I assume the tattoo is part of the initiation ceremony, and multiple boys likely enter the house at the same time, therefore the tattoo must be a pretty simple one. Seven year old boys have a lot of growing to do, so the tattoo is probably quite simple. Or, assuming an Eddis with more godly involvement, I’m sure tattoos dedicated to gods wouldn’t deform over time and you don’t need to consider this aspect at all.

First Kill Tattoo

Facts: It’s above the house initiation tattoo, on the shoulder, and it’s marked after a boy’s first kill.

Trials Tattoos

Facts: They exist.

Conclusion

This leaves us with a lot of leeway - colors, number of tattoos, symbolism, depictions of animals, style. We know the symbol of Eddis is a griffin, mountain swallows were painted around the ceiling of the throne room, sheep are important to their economy, goats and lions are mentioned, along with other animals.

We can also extrapolate, for instance, if boys receive a tattoo when they enter the boys’ house, perhaps they receive one when they leave, when they become a new spear, when they officially join the military. All of these examples, in addition to any tattoos given for Trials, hopefully give some inspiration to look back on your life and times of Trial and Transition that you could commemorate. Drawing on a combination of the ornaments seen on pottery and in mosaics, and some of the many animals depicted on coins, frescoes, and elsewhere in Greek society, you can pick and choose elements to create your own Eddisian-style tattoo.

Notes:

I did create some sample tattoos based on this research and methodology.

Sources & additional inspiration are linked on a pinterest board. I also want to shout out the Getty Museum's Collection for having a fast, easily-searchable database with tons of high quality photography. Please ask questions in the comments if you have any!