Hi Eldarwen! Welcome! The tattoo is the elvish symbol for nine.

Yes, and Peter Jackson got a tattoo of the elven symbol for "ten". I think it was a great bonding thing for them to do. Only John Rhys Davies chickened out - his stunt double got the Fellowship tattoo instead. Otherwise, the rest of the nine have the mark. Sean A's is on his ankle, Dom's is on his shoulder, Elijah's is on the front of his hip (where a jeans pocket is), Orlando's is on his forearm (you can see it on Pirates Of The Caribbean several times), Billy's is on his foot, the stunt double is on his shoulder - I didn't know where Bean's, Viggo's, or Ian's tattoos were, so that answers one more

I have a tatto, the thing with them is think about what ur getting, I mean you may be 17 and into death metal now, but in 10 yrs time you might regret that skull with the snake coming out the eye sockets. I went for a celtic Knot with roses, and I put in a place where I can cover it(Right Bi-cep), some people i know don't even know i have it, and i quite often forget about it myself. Eight yrs latter and I'm still happy with it and can't see me panicing and getting it lazered off any time soon.

I woke up one morning to find a hidious butterfly tattooed on my right leg.... I must have been really drunk when I put it there, but I'm pleased it's on my leg and not my neck. For some reason I've got about twenty home-made ones on my legs (mainly dragons, angels, skulls and swords etc) which I did myself when I was young and stupid. The reason they are on my legs, by the way, wasn't so much to keep them hidden, as it's difficult to tattoo your own shoulders etc. I keep contemplating getting some tribal symbols done professionally on my arms and back, but something keeps stopping me.

As has been mentioned above, I'd recommend anyone thinking about having one done, making sure it is somewhere they can cover it up. I know a few people who have had them on their hands and faces, and most of them really regret it later.

I only have a small tattoo on my lower back that's the Chinese symbol for soul, and even though it's small, it hurt like the Dickens!!! I'll never, ever do it again. My best friend on the other hand has two, large half-sleeve tattoos on her arms, which are absolutely beautiful...I really could never do it though. (Hey, she's in Phoenix, Laurel...I think you two would really get along.)

Yes, there are religious reasons not to get tattoos, or so my mother told me over and over again growing up while she pointed out the Bible verse to me. I tended to point out everything else that it said in that same chapter and asked why she allows me to braid my hair and not sacrifice animals then. But, it didn’t seem to work. Ah well.

Oh, and yes, really, really think about it...I have a friend who has a tattoo on his arm that he got when he was 16, and it says, "Born to Be Wild." Believe you, me...we can't give him enough of a hard time about it. Hahahahahahaha!

Laurel – I like the idea of Gandalf’s runic symbol. That would be nice. Viggo on the other hand…well, I guess you could say he would always be smiling...hee hee.

Well, let me see: we could have a red S on our foreheads and a skull on one wrist and a row of numbers on the other. No on second thought I have decided to give tattoos a pass. Had my daughter asked me before she had a beautiful large butterfly pointillismed on the small of her back, I'd have said no way, but as she was older than 21, she didn't feel asking me was necessary. The main thing to remember is no names other than "Mother", else your future spouse may decide not to be.

One of my tattoos is picturing Turambar in despair after killing Beleg,
under that i have the ring inscription,
all together takes about 20x20cm of my back.
Next one I will do this summer across my forearm,
2 words, also Silmarillion based ;-)))
Marian

I love tattoos...I currently have two. Both of which I know I'll love forever. The first one I got when I was 18, it's a treble clef, on my right shoulder...which is very easy for you to cover. And the second is a symbol from FOTR which I got when I was 19. it's a small celtic-looking butterfly...i'm sure as soon as i can find a way to show everyone i will....but i don't have it saved on this computer.

Make sure whatever you get is something that you'll like when you're older. The treble clef i got because I have and always will love music, and the butterfly i got because i love LOTR, and i have always been fascinated by butterflies. They are both just black outlines...and neither of them required a lot of work...or money, but they are both elegent and "classy."