A
Grim Reaper tattoo design is often combined with a variety of other
design elements in order to make a truly unique tattoo design. The
number of these design-elements is very large (up to several hundreds)
and for this reason even their mere enumeration is an extremely
difficult task. In this post I will attempt a brief overview of the most
popular elements which can be seen in a Death tattoo.
1. Skulls and skeletons are probably the most common elements which can
occur in a Death tattoo; sometimes Death himself / herself is depicted
as a skeleton carrying a scythe. Anyway, a skull tattoo can have a
different meaning than a Grim Reaper tattoo: triumph, anarchy, white
race supremacy, etc (read more here).
Grim Reaper holding a human skull
2. Symbols of the inexorable flow of time: hourglasses, watches, sundials, old pendulum clocks, timepieces, horologes, etc.
3. Objects related to the culture of death: crosses (especially gothic and celtic crosses), candles, and tombstones.
4. Animals: the Death’s horse,
the Black Dog, Cerberus, venomous snakes, birds which are usually seen
as bad omens that foretell of death like ravens and crows, some insects
(especially the moths).
Death riding his / her horse
5. Weapons: the most common is, of course, the famous Grim Reaper scythe, but many other weapons appear as well: swords, spears, lances, javelins, knives, daggers and even modern guns
gangsta tattoo: Death holding a gun
6. Objects related to magic and alchimy: orbs, magic compasses, magic
crystal ball (a reminder of the fact that Death can see every single
corner of the world), the five pointed star, old magic books or
papyruses.
Grim Reaper holding a magic orb
7. Latin maxims and aphorisms: Memento Mori (Remember your mortality, Remember you must die or Remember you will die), Sic Transit Gloria Mundi (Thus passes the glory of the world), Carpe Diem (Seize the day), Ubi sunt…? (Where are…?) or Ubi nunc…? (Where now…?) – both of them are shortened variants of the Ubi sunt qui ante nos fuerunt? Where are those who were before us?)
Dance of Death tattoo
8. Fate-symbols: dices, playing cards, Tarot cards
Death tattoo: Grim Reaper playing dices (probably the stake of the game is someone’s life)
9. Symbols of power: thrones, highly decorated swords, chains, royal crowns, rings, lightning strokes
10. Nature elements (these elements occur especially in the large
tattoos): dead trees (very common in a Death tattoo), the Moon, mist,
clouds, dark waters, swamps, lightning strokes
dead trees are a very common element in the Grim Reaper tattoos
11. Elements associated with the Underworld / Hell: flames (the flames
of Hell), thrones decorated with human skulls and bones, demons and
monsters, the five pointed star. These elements occur very frequent in
the so-called satanic tattoos
Grim Reaper – lord of the Underworld
12. Other elements: handlamps (used to see in the dark), flowers (the
symbol of ephemerality), hearts, scales (as a symbol of equity, justice
and impartiality, as well as a symbol of the divine will).
Grim Reaper tattoo design
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