Luxor4u

Has anybody watched the series "Vikings"? I quite liked it particularly the music.

Great series LLL, when it first started I thought it was by a group called Clannad who often sing and play Celtic music, but it is called "If I had a heart" and its by Fever Ray

Excellent production, I'm into season four part one.

Love series like this one myself and quite like the music too.

Can't say I've seen it....though it's the sort of thing I might enjoy. Maybe I'll grab the DVD set (assuming there is one) when next in London.

I was surprised to see a woman battling it out with the men. Did women participate in the "rape & pillage" expeditions?

Those poor Northumbrian monks....lucky buggers eh!

They certainly did Newcastle those Viking women could wrestle a bear and probably smelled like one too So the poor monks dipped out on both counts so to speak.

Tattoos and body markings are really embellishing all the actors on Vikings. Do you think they really did do all that marking and tattooing or is it just a Hollywood adaptation to make the characters look more interesting?

I have no tattoos, don't particularly like them but they are definitely popular here. Everybody seems to have huge tattoos all over themselves now and most in quite vivid colours.

I know that many of the Polynesian people actively tattoo'd as did many in tribal Africa. Who else engaged in body markings?

Is it something that Arabic people are doing?

Just mulling it all now - the world of tattoos and thinking on who does and who does NOT tattoo and for what reasons.....

Do you like 'em? Would you get one? and lastly 'why?'

(Course I always want to shove my nose in an try to understand the 'why' behind most everything )

My elder brothers had tattoos...but then both were in the navy. I was a child of the 60's....they weren't really a mods & rockers thing.

Personally....I dislike the sight of them and no matter how gorgeous the body is on which they are currently displayed....I always imagine the sad, wrinkled bag it'll eventually morph into.

Tattoos are rarely seen here...apart from on tourists. They are considered unislamic.

Copts carry a small cross on the wrist...but nothing else as far as I know.

I remember some Copts there, now that you mention it, who had a couple of blue dots (small) about their wrists. They were in a salon outside ISIS. These were women. Don't recall if I ever saw this on a man but then I wasn't really looking.

I don't really like tattoos. Have yet to see one that I would want on me and - yeah when you get old

I do wonder though if the Norsemen did tattoo like they're portrayed in VIKINGS?

they weren't really a mods & rockers thing.

Ahha! now we have it Newcastle, the cat is out of the bag we know that Who was a Mod with his trips to Brighton, I was always a Rocker, long hair and BSA Gold Stars, so which one were you? fess up

Horus wrote:

they weren't really a mods & rockers thing.

Ahha! now we have it Newcastle, the cat is out of the bag we know that Who was a Mod with his trips to Brighton, I was always a Rocker, long hair and BSA Gold Stars, so which one were you? fess up

Hint: My pride & joy was my Crombie with its velvet collar. I had a huge range of Ben Sherman shirts in every colour of the rainbow.

and no doubt lots of wing mirrors

Horus wrote:They certainly did Newcastle those Viking women could wrestle a bear and probably smelled like one too ...

As we see from L4U's very own Viking descendant, they've become more fragrant over the centuries and taken up altogether more terpsichorean habits.

newcastle wrote:
Tattoos are rarely seen here...apart from on tourists. They are considered unislamic.

Copts carry a small cross on the wrist...but nothing else as far as I know.

Although most of the tattoos I have seen in Luxor have been on the inner wrist of Coptic friends I have noticed a number of elderwomen with fairly discreet, but nontheless visible, facial tattoos.

I personally don't like this modern fashion for excessive tattooing, especially on women. I much prefer the temporary art work of henna tattoos.

I'm with Hepzibah on the 'temporary-ness' of henna. I hate the wait of soaking it in with lemon and then waiting and waiting and waiting for it to dry.

I'm real white and my skin will suck up henna like a sponge and it doesn't go away for a couple of weeks. All my henna-ing has been done in conjunction with going to Hindu weddings where literally everybody gets tattoo'd. The girls doing the henna are extremely artistic and can fill up any space with flowers and swirls and whirls leaving very pretty patterns and shapes. Both the men and women are adorned.

The wait for it to dry can be a time killer though I know the Saudi ladies here use it and I must say none seem to mind the sitting about waiting for it to dry on them

I know ladies in and about Egypt also use henna. I wonder if the patterns are essentially the same OR if the patterns the girls use in Egypt are different? I wonder if the patterns there have an Islamic slant to them?

newcastle wrote:

Horus wrote:They certainly did Newcastle those Viking women could wrestle a bear and probably smelled like one too ...

As we see from L4U's very own Viking descendant, they've become more fragrant over the centuries and taken up altogether more terpsichorean habits.

I am sure you are correct Newcastle, they certainly chose some real lookers to play the female parts in the series, not an ugly one in sight, but that's Hollywood for you

I do not have any tattoo's, don't like them, but get one occasionally when accidentally drawing on my skin with an indelible marker if I'm marking out something, so I make it into something more catching to the eye, which is usually in the shape of a boob or a bum. My friend considers this a childish act, but you are only as old as you feel. In a couple of days my friends arrive from the UK for a month, Frank is covered in tattoos, with the exception of his face, a fact that I continually point out to him stating that he missed the opportunity to enhance his looks. His wife also has a few tattoos. The staff around the pool area seem to be fascinated by this artwork.In my youth I was a greaser, without the wheels, but the full monty studded jacket and belt. Sad, but I just didn't like bikes.

On my first holiday in Hurghada, many moons ago, I was staying on my own at a very pleasant hotel. The only pain was the constant pestering of "salesmen" when lounging by the pool.( I was much more reticent in those days.... )..

One particularly persistent guy was offering henna tattoos and, eventually, in the hope of getting rid of him once and for all, I opted for a small one....on the upper arm (where the biceps would be...if I'd had any).

I didn't fancy any of the designs in his catalogue but, thinking a eagle head or something similar would be suitably macho, and being unable to convey what I had in mind with my poor Arabic and his equally poor English, I tore off the back cover of the inflight mag I happened to be reading and pointed to the rather elegant hawk head.

"Something like that? " I suggested. Big mistake.

I spent my week at the hotel being constantly asked if I worked for Egyptair.....whether the company logo was de riguer for all staff and other fatuous comments.

Never again.

newcastle wrote:On my first holiday in Hurghada, many moons ago, I was staying on my own at a very pleasant hotel. The only pain was the constant pestering of "salesmen" when lounging by the pool.( I was much more reticent in those days.... )..

One particularly persistent guy was offering henna tattoos and, eventually, in the hope of getting rid of him once and for all, I opted for a small one....on the upper arm (where the biceps would be...if I'd had any).

I didn't fancy any of the designs in his catalogue but, thinking a eagle head or something similar would be suitably macho, and being unable to convey what I had in mind with my poor Arabic and his equally poor English, I tore off the back cover of the inflight mag I happened to be reading and pointed to the rather elegant hawk head.

"Something like that? " I suggested. Big mistake.

I spent my week at the hotel being constantly asked if I worked for Egyptair.....whether the company logo was de riguer for all staff and other fatuous comments.

Never again.

A bit like the guy in the tattoo parlour who looked out of the window and seeing the name above a Chinese restaurant said he wanted a tattoo with Kung Foo type writing. He spent the rest of his life with the words "King Prawns in Black Bean Sauce" written on his arm.