First and foremost, many people don’t know when the medieval time period actually is and just refer to “old Europe” as medieval. So for clarification I am writing about tattoos that have themes and designs that are reminiscent of the later middle ages which is considered to be approximately 1300- 1500. Medieval tattoos are popular for those who like fantasy, history, weaponry and strange creatures.

Some popular styles for medieval tattoos include American traditional, black traditional, folk, wood cut and black work.

Medieval themed tattoos can make great back pieces, sleeves, or fillers. Lots of folks opt for getting medieval weaponry such as flails as fillers (myself included), or full arm or leg sleeves with knights, dragons, witch burnings, castles, wizards and more.

Medieval and fantasy themed tattoos have a lot of overlap, with the difference I find being more about the style. For example a wood cut style tattoo depicting a skeleton knight or a dragon being fought is more historical and medieval in theme than say a neo-traditional wizard because the woodcut art during the medieval times also portrayed some pretty fantastical situations.

Do you have a medieval themed tattoo?