Vyaz ( from , ; 'to bind, to tie') is a type of ancient decorative Cyrillic lettering, in which letters are linked into a continuous ornament.
History Vyaz first emerged out of a need to write quickly in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Scribes developed vyaz to decorate their texts and highlight the first line of a text. Vyaz headings are sometimes difficult to read due to their ornamentation.
Vyaz first appeared in South Slavic monuments in the 13th century, and was also used from the end of the 14th to the beginning of the 15th century in the East Slavic and Wallachian regions. Under the reign of Ivan the Terrible, vyaz developed considerably, but was later abandoned.
See also Serbian calligraphy Cyrillic alphabet
References
External links Examples of the Russian Vyaz: ,