A bind rune is a ligature of two or more runes. They are extremely rare in Viking Age inscriptions, but are common in earlier and later inscriptions. On some runestones, bind runes may have been ornamental and used to highlight the name of the carver.
Description
There are two types of bind runes. Normal bind runes are formed of two adjacent runes which are joined together to form a single conjoined glyph, usually sharing a common vertical stroke. 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. 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, Sweden, or as the waves under a ship on DR 220 in Sønder Kirkeby, Denmark.
The syllable ing written as a ligature of Isaz and Ingwaz.
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:
The wordgebiddaþ is written with a ligatured double on the Thornhill III rune-stone
The name Hadda is written with a ligatured double on the Derbyshire bone plate
The word broþer is written with a ligatured and on some Northumbrian stycas
The Latin word meus is written as mæus with a ligatured and on the Whitby comb
The inscription ring ic hatt is written with a ligatured and on the Wheatley Hill finger-ring
The names of the evangelists, Mat and Marcus are both written with a ligatured and on St Cuthbert's coffin
The name Dering may be written with a triple ligatured, and on the Thornhill III rune-stone
A triple ligature, and 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, bind rune on the reverse of the amulet
The name Ecgbeorht engraved on an armband from the Galloway Hoard is written eggbrect with ligatured and , and the final added above the final letter
The former logo of Thor Steinar featured a combination of a *tiwaz rune and a *sowilo rune. 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.
