Bind rune

A boat of which the mast is formed with the bind runes þ=r=u=t=a=R= =þ=i=a=k=n, on the runestone Sö 158 at Ärsta, Södermanland. The bind runes tell that the deceased was a strong thegn.

A bind rune (Icelandic: bandrún) is a ligature of two or more runes. They are extremely rare in Viking Age inscriptions, but are common in earlier (Proto-Norse) and later (medieval) inscriptions.^[1]

On some runestones, bind runes may have been ornamental and used to highlight the name of the carver.^[2]

Description

There are two types of bind runes. Normal bind runes are formed of two (or rarely three) adjacent runes which are joined together to form a single conjoined glyph, usually sharing a common vertical stroke (see Hadda example below).^[3] Another type of bind rune called a same-stave rune, which is common in Scandinavian runic inscriptions but does not occur at all in Anglo-Saxon runic inscriptions, is formed by several runic letters written sequentially along a long common stemline (see þ=r=u=t=a=R= =þ=i=a=k=n example shown above).^[4] In the latter cases the long bind rune stemline may be incorporated into an image on the rune stone, for example as a ship's mast on runestones Sö 158 at Ärsta and Sö 352 in Linga, Södermanland, or as the waves under a ship on DR 220 in Sønder Kirkeby, Denmark.^[4]

Examples

Elder futhark

Examples found in Elder Futhark inscriptions include:

• Stacked Tiwaz runes: Kylver Stone, Seeland-II-C
• Gebô runes combined with vowels: Kragehul I
• The syllable ing written as a ligature of Isaz and Ingwaz (the so-called "lantern rune").^[5]

Anglo-Saxon Futhorc

Bind runes are not common in Anglo-Saxon inscriptions, but double ligatures do sometimes occur, and triple ligatures may rarely occur. The following are examples of bind-runes that have been identified in Anglo-Saxon runic inscriptions:^[6][7]

Cryptic runic inscription on a silver knife mount, with several bind runes

The "Derbyshire bone plate", showing the name Hadda with ligatured double ᛞ

• The word gebiddaþ is written with a ligatured double ᛞ (dd) on the Thornhill III rune-stone
• The name Hadda is written with a ligatured double ᛞ (dd) on the Derbyshire bone plate
• The word broþer is written with a ligatured ᛖ and ᚱ (er) on some Northumbrian stycas
• The Latin word meus is written as mæus with a ligatured ᛗ and ᚫ (mæ) on the Whitby comb
• The inscription [h]ring ic hatt[æ] ("ring I am called") is written with a ligatured ᚻ and ᚪ (ha) on the Wheatley Hill finger-ring
• The names of the evangelists, Mat(t)[h](eus) and Marcus are both written with a ligatured ᛗ and ᚪ (ma) on St Cuthbert's coffin
• The name Dering may be written with a triple ligatured ᛞ, ᛖ and ᚱ (der) on the Thornhill III rune-stone (this reading is not certain)
• The word sefa is written with a ligatured ᚠ and ᚪ (fa) on the right side of the Franks Casket
• Ligatured ligatured runes ᛖᚱ (er), ᚻᚪ (ha) and ᛞᚫ (dæ) occur in the cryptic runic inscription on a silver knife mount at the British Museum
• The word gægogæ on the Undley bracteate is written with ligatured ᚷ and ᚫ (gæ) and ᚷ and ᚩ (go)
• A ligatured ᚾ and ᛏ (nt) occurs in the word glæstæpontol on a cryptic inscription on a silver ring from Bramham Moor in West Yorkshire
• A triple ligature ᛞ, ᛗ and ᚩ (dmo) occurs on a broken amulet found near Stratford-upon-Avon in 2006. This is the only known certain Anglo-Saxon triple bind rune. There is possibly a faint ᛖ, ᛞ (ed) bind rune on the reverse of the amulet.^[8]

Modern use

• The Bluetooth logo merges the runes analogous to the modern Latin alphabet letters h and b; ᚼ (Hagall) and ᛒ (Berkanan) together, forming a bind rune. The two letters form the initials 'H B', alluding to the Danish king and viking raider Harald Bluetooth.
• The former logo of Thor Steinar featured a combination of a *tiwaz rune (ᛏ) and a *sowilo rune ᛋ. This logo caused controversy as the runes were so combined that a part of the logo became very similar to the insignia of the Schutzstaffel.

Gallery

• 

  The a and the þ runes in ligature on the Rök Runestone

• 

  The s and k runes in ligature in the Old Norse word skipari ("sailor") on the Tuna Runestone in Småland

• 

  A bind rune for the word runaR on the Sønder Kirkeby Runestone in Denmark

• 

  Bluetooth logo (21st-century bind rune of (Hagall) and (Berkanan)

See also

• Cipher runes
• Nordic bind runes

References

1. Enoksen, Lars Magnar (1998). Runor: historia, tydning, tolkning, p. 84. Historiska Media, Falun. ISBN 91-88930-32-7
2. MacLeod, Mindy (2006), "Ligatures in Early Runic and Roman Inscriptions", in Stocklund, Marie; et al., Runes and Their Secrets: Studies in Runology, Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, p. 194, ISBN 87-635-0428-6
3. Elliott, R. W. V. (1980). Runes. Manchester University Press. p. 22. ISBN 0-7190-0787-9.
4. MacLeod, Mindy (2002). Bind-Runes: An Investigation of Ligatures in Runic Epigraphy. Uppsala Universitet. pp. 16–18, 158–59, 162–163. ISBN 91-506-1534-3.
5. Richard Lee Morris, Runic and Mediterranean Epigraphy, 1988, p. 130.
6. Elliott, R. W. V. (1980). Runes. Manchester University Press. pp. 87, 105. ISBN 0-7190-0787-9.
7. Page, Raymond I. (2006). An Introduction to English Runes. Boydell Press. pp. 48, 163, 169, 172. ISBN 0-85115-946-X.
8. "Amulet WAW-4CA072". Portable Antiquities Scheme. 6 September 2010. Retrieved 2013-01-06.