Bind rune

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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:

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
  • The word gebiddaþ is written with a ligatured double (dd) on the Thornhill III rune-stone
  • The name Hadda is written with a ligatured double (dd) on the Derbyshire bone plate
  • The word broþer is written with a ligatured and (er) on some Northumbrian stycas
  • The Latin word meus is written as mæus with a ligatured and () on the Whitby comb
  • The inscription [h]ring ic hatt[æ] ("ring I am called") is written with a ligatured and (ha) on the Wheatley Hill finger-ring
  • The names of the evangelists, Mat(t)[h](eus) and Marcus are both written with a ligatured and (ma) on St Cuthbert's coffin
  • The name Dering may be written with a triple ligatured , and (der) on the Thornhill III rune-stone (this reading is not certain)
  • The word sefa is written with a ligatured and (fa) on the right side of the Franks Casket
  • Ligatured ligatured runes ᛖᚱ (er), ᚻᚪ (ha) and ᛞᚫ () 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 and () and and (go)
  • A ligatured and (nt) occurs in the word glæstæpontol on a cryptic inscription on a silver ring from Bramham Moor in West Yorkshire
  • A triple ligature , and (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 , (ed) bind rune on the reverse of the amulet.[8]

Modern use

Gallery

See also

References

  1. Enoksen, Lars Magnar (1998). Runor: historia, tydning, tolkning, p. 84. Historiska Media, Falun. ISBN 91-88930-32-7
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  5. Richard Lee Morris, Runic and Mediterranean Epigraphy, 1988, p. 130.
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