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Vikings had tattoos so must be based.
Our first and most important clue is the account from Ahmed Iban Fadlan in 921 AD. An Arabic scholar, Fadlan was sent by the caliphate to Middle Volga, part of what is now Russia.
Whilst there he came across a group of Northmen and it is here that we have our only account from history to say that they had any form of decoration on their skin.
‘As tall as palm trees, fair and reddish, they wear neither tunics nor caftans. Everyman wears a cloak with which he covers half of his body, so that one arm is uncovered. They carry axes, swords and daggers and always have them to hand. They use Frankish swords with broad, ridged blades. They are dark from the tips of their toes right up to their necks - trees, pictures, and the like.’
