Hand: Hand 2 (5r), CUL Ff.1.23 (1156)

Stokes, English Vernacular Script, ca 990–ca 1035, Vol. 2 (PhD Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2006)

This large, very rotund hand was written with a thick pen held quite flat and with a great deal of shading. Ascenders are thick, straight, never longer than minims, and show a small wedge or broadening at the tip. Descenders can be very short and are also straight, thick, and usually have a small finial at the tip not unlike that at the top of the ascenders. Minims have small wedges or thin, horizontal approach-strokes and can either be flat at the bottom or have horizontal feet. A very rotund, single-compartment a was used with a straight, vertical back which reaches slightly below the bottom of the bowl. The a-component of æ is shorter and wider and the top is approximately horizontal and formed by what looks almost like a large horn on the e-component; this latter component has a vertical back, a thin straight tongue, a round hook, and a round lower curve. Round c was used, the hook usually slightly shorter than the lower curve. The back of d is quite long but almost horizontal; it reaches back past the bowl and turns up very slightly at the tip. Horned e was used throughout, the tongue of which is thin, approximately horizontal, and quite high, extending slightly beyond the round hook. The tongue of f is also very thin, extends slightly through the down-stroke, and is angled up slightly. The top of g is fairly thin and quite straight, the mid-section is more rounded and fairly open, and the tail is closed in a round loop. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are all quite rounded and somewhat swollen, and the down-strokes curve out to the right before turning to the vertical or slightly back to the left. Only low s was used, the hook of which is quite short. The letter ð does not appear, but there were no opportunities in the text for it to do so if the conventional spelling was followed; þ appears twice, in geþeahte and þrymsetle. Straight-limbed dotted y was used; the second, longer stroke curves noticably left and is hooked right at the tip. The top of 7 is thick at the tip and turns up slightly, and the down-stroke straight but angled slightly left. Latin is distinguished from Old English by script, although the aspect of the two is very similar.