Black anchor tattoo on a forearm and a smaller black anchor on a wrist, with two hands held together in front.

Enlarged with AI from a smaller original

Two anchor tattoos on a forearm and wrist

Forearm · Black and grey · Photo

Two solid black anchor tattoos sit on pale skin, one larger on the forearm and one smaller on the inner wrist. The larger anchor has a bold, filled silhouette with a rope ring at the top, while the smaller one has thinner outlines and more visible detail. The image is a close crop with a dark background, and two hands with red nail polish are held together beside the tattoos.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

The harbour at Stillmere had one rule that every child learned before they learned their letters: a boat that drops anchor in the wrong place stays there until the tide forgets it. So when the widow Marrin's two daughters came down the shingle with a single fishing smack between them, the harbour master simply lifted his hat and waited for the quarrel.

Keep reading

The elder, Ysolde, wanted the big hook of iron for the stern, the kind that would hold a ship against a winter gale. The younger, Teodra, wanted something finer, a small hook she could carry in her pocket and show to anyone who asked whether she was still her sister's keel. They argued until the gulls gave up on them. Then their mother took a knife, cut a length of tarred rope, and told them to go and find the smith who worked by the lighthouse, because he owed her a favour from the year of the flood.

The smith had no iron left. He had only a pot of black ink made from burnt oak galls and a needle he used for stitching sailcloth. He pricked the big anchor into Ysolde's arm, bold and filled, with its rope ring knotted at the top. Teodra wanted hers thinner, so he drew it fine as a fishbone and let the lines show their work. When he was done he wiped the blood away with a rag and said the old words: hold where you are put, and you will never be lost at sea.

The sisters walked home with their hands clasped, the way they had as small girls crossing the bridge. Ysolde still reckons the iron was the better gift. Teodra says the smith gave them both the same promise, only one of them had to stand in the weather to keep it.

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