--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "Patricia" <originalpatricia@...>
wrote:

>
> LN - Saell
> the bound which is used when we are bound by an oath - can bindast

be used in that - can we not feel as if bound by an oath or promise
though no chains be used in fact, is that also expressed by bindast

> Kveðja

Sæl Patricia,

Yes, both the simple verb and the middle voice form can be used for
this figurative sense of binding oneself with an oath, or entering
into an agreement or pact.

At þessu ráði bundust átta höfðingjar með Áka
"There were eight other chieftains involved in this plot with Áki"
(Yngvars saga viðförla, trans. Hermann Pálsson and Paul Edwards)

Ok þetta bundu þau eiðum með sér.
"And this they bound with oaths between themselves", i.e. "they swore
oaths to each other to this effect."
(Völsunga saga, where Brynhildr and Sigurðr pledge their troth)

LN