Joseph Ruud is an American professional wrestler, best known by his ring name Erick Rowan. He has been a part of the WWE. He began wrestling in Japan and has performed for pro wrestling Noah. Ruud began his professional wrestling career in 2003. Erick has also appeared in a few movies and has been featured in many wrestling games. He is also a two-time SmackDown Tag Team Champion and also won the NXT Tag Team Championship. Erick is obsessed with Norse Mythology and most of the tattoos on his body come from the same. Let us look at his tattoos and the meanings behind them.
1. Design Tattoo
Tattoo: The upper left arm and shoulder of the wrestler are covered in a large tattoo design of vines and shapes inspired by Nordic patterns along with a few creatures tattooed along with the design.
2. Viking Tattoo
Tattoo: There is a tattoo of a little Viking warrior tattooed on his left bicep.
Meaning: This is just one of the many tattoos on his body that he has from Norse Mythology.
3. Warrior Tattoo
Tattoo: The inner side of his left wrist contains the face of a Viking warrior tattooed on it. The warrior only has one eye and the other one is glowing. The same pattern as the rest of his forearm contains the same design as the rest of his arm.
Meaning: The warrior’s face represents the Norse God, Odin The Allfather who is depicted with only one eye. This is not the only tattoo that he has of the Allfather on his body.
4. Woman Tattoo
Tattoo: There is a tattoo of a woman, kneeling down, collecting the liquid in a bowl from a tree on the right bicep of the wrestler.
Meaning: The woman depicted in his tattoo is Sigyn who was the wife of the Norse God, Loki. She is seen assisting Loki in captivity by collecting the dripping venom in a basin to throw it away so that it does not fall on Loki which would make him writhe in pain.
5. Tree Tattoo
Tattoo: The right forearm of the athlete is covered in a large tattoo of a tree originating from a skull tattooed on his right hand. The branches of the tree cover most of his right forearm. There is also an Axe tattooed along with the tree.
Meaning: The tree on his right forearm is again, from the Norse Mythology. It is Yggdrasil, the tree of Worlds which connects all the nine realms.
6. ‘Runes’ Tattoo
Tattoo: There are Viking Runes tattooed on each of the fingers of his right hand.
7. ‘Women’ on Forearm Tattoo
Tattoo: There is a tattoo of two women sitting beneath the tree on the inner side of his right forearm.
8. ‘Ship’ Tattoo
Tattoo: There is a large tattoo of a ship done on a large shield. The ship contains a man holding a hammer and a shield in his hand. The tattoo design is done on one of his calves.
Meaning: The man on the ship is the Norse God of Thunder, Thor holding his hammer, Mjolnir. The scene is from one of Thor’s quests when he went fishing for Jormungandr the Serpent (also known as the Midgard Serpent) while using the head of an Ox as bait.
9. Hammer Tattoo
Tattoo: There is a tattoo of a hammer with a large snake wrapper around it tattooed on the inner side of his right thigh. The lower side of his right thigh contains a tattoo of another tree.
Meaning: The tattoo was revealed by the wrestler on Instagram who said it was a depiction of Thor vs Jormungandr. In Norse Mythology, Thor battled the Midgard Serpent.
10. Odin Tattoo
Tattoo: The upper side of Erick’s right thigh contains the other tattoo of Odin.
Meaning: The tattoo represents the Norse God, Odin along with one eye and a Raven sitting on his shoulder. Odin is often depicted with his Ravens, Huginn and Muninn who flew around Midgard and brought him information.
11. ‘Sleipnir’ Tattoo
Tattoo: Erick’s leg contains a tattoo of a horse in between branches of a tree. The horse also has eight legs instead of four.
Meaning: The horse is also from Norse Mythology, known as Sleipnir. Sleipnir is Odin’s steed which he often used to ride into battle or Hel.
12. ‘Freki’ Tattoo
Tattoo: There is a tattoo of a wolf in between the branches of the tree, below the tattoo of Thor on the ship.
Meaning: The wolf tattoo was revealed by Erick on Instagram who said it was a tattoo of Freki which is one of Odin’s wolves.
13. ‘Viking Compass’ Tattoo
Tattoo: There is a large tattoo of a Viking Compass surrounded by a design on his other calf.
Meaning: The Vegvisir, also known as the Viking Compass is made out of eight runes. It is also called a “Wayfinder” and is a symbol of guidance and protection.
14. Leg Tattoos
Tattoo: Erick’s left thigh also contains tattoos on it. There are also a few more tattoos on his legs that have not been completely revealed yet.
15. Chest Tattoo
Tattoo: There is also a tattoo design on Rowan’s chest that has not been seen fully.
