Rune:Bind rune

A bind rune is a ligature of two or more runes. They are extremely rare in Viking Age inscription, but are common in pre-Viking Age and in post-Viking Age (medieval) inscriptions.

In some names on runestones, such as the name of the carver of the runes, bind runes may have been ornamental and used to highlight the name.

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). 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). 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.

Elder futhark
Examples found in Elder Futhark inscriptions include:
 * Stacked Tiwaz runes: Kylver Stone, Seeland-II-C
 * Gebô runes combined with vowels: Kragehul I

Modern use

 * The Bluetooth logo merges the runes analogous to the modern Latin alphabet letters h and b; Hagall and Berkanan together, forming a bind rune. The two letters form the intials 'H B', alluding to the Danish king and viking raider Harald Bluetooth.