The shroud knot is a multi-strand bend knot used to join two ends of laid (or twisted) rope together.

Shroud knots, in general, are a class of knots in which the individual strands of laid rope are knotted, but not woven, to the individual strands of another laid rope.

This makes them more secure than a simple bend but less secure than a full splice; however, they use less rope than a full splice would.

[2] If a shroud was shot through, the shroud knot provided a way to quickly repair it using minimal rope.

As modern ships now use steel cable for the most part, the knots are now more often used decoratively than functionally.