Believe it or not, on the whole I'd actually agree with you. I certainly don't think that all or most tattoos will be magical symbols, much less carefully nuanced ones. Most of them are there because they have personal or family significance (I like your boar example) or the bearer thinks they look hard, cool, whatever.
But on the other hand, this is a preliterate culture in which visual cues are very important. It does say in TR (p23) that every clan has its own distinctive tattoo, so the principle of specific markers for specific identities is already established. You wouldn't wear (what is the right word for tattoos?) another clan's tattoo both because it would dishonour your ancestors and because the other clan would carve it off you if they found out. There may well be all sorts of other tattoos recognised at the local level ("all who join my warband will take this sign") or even generally (Humakti death runes, etc).
But yes, beyond some specific tattoos with powerful, consensual meanings, I'd agree that most of this 'embellishment' is just a matter of taste!
Mark
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