Hand: Ink Glosses, CCCC 173, fols. 57–83

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

Most of the inked glosses in both Latin and Old English include a mixture of Insular and Caroline letter-forms. Caroline a was used almost universally, the Insular form only found three times (alege, 59r; gelandum, 61r; the second in þa ilcan, 71r; and a hybrid form in aðelbold, 75r). The a-component of æ was usually formed by a thin rounded loop attached to the back of e (þudbæran, 60v; gelæua, 73r; onræs, 73r), but the Caroline form was also used (æuenne, 61r). Round c was used throughout, and round e is much more common, although the horned form is found. Insular d is more common, although the Caroline form was also used (Caroline in gemedamad, 59r; thu bist etwuemed, 59r; geand, 61v; nyrdnes, 62v; geanwurfede 63v). Insular d was always written with the back angled between about 15–45°; it could be straight, fairly long, and closer to the horizontal (þa þudbæran, 60v; gelandum, 61r), turned over slightly at the tip (lacede, 72r), or shorter and closer to 45° (unhode, wiðerede, gemenifealdre, all on 72r). Caroline f dominates: the Insular form was used twice (fyres, 62r; foge, 71r) compared to thirteen times for the Caroline. Caroline g is uncommon, only appearing three times (alege, 59r; gelifeste, 59v; fellice gresu 61v) compared to seventeen times for the Insular form. Insular g usually has a flat top, a mid-stroke hanging from the centre which descends fairly vertically, turns more or less to the horizontal, and then curves around in a wide open tail which can be hooked up, down or remain straight at the tip. The tail sometimes ends with a small, round, three-quarter closed loop (geand, 61v); g can also have a very small mid-section (both times in maggelæua, 73r), and in one case has a rising top and a sickle-shaped tail (galdrum, 72v). One scribe used Uncial g (g e, fo g e, þa g eferde, g emenifealdre); he wrote with a flat pen and fairly light-brown ink, mainly on 71r–72r, and his script also shows Caroline a and r, Insular d, both forms of f, and both Caroline and low s. Caroline r also dominates, the Insular form appearing only twice in two consecutive glosses (gewyrttenes and geripes, both on 77v); these were both written by the same scribe who only used Insular letter-forms, who wrote a fairly wide and messy script, and whose script is similar to that with the uncial g. Caroline h and s are somewhat harder to distinguish from the Insular forms in glosses, but the Caroline form seems to dominate in both cases. Unambiguous low s is found only four times, twice in gewurttenes and geripes cited above, once in þuhs, 72r, and once in fyres, 62r; this last gloss was also written in a wide, very rough script using only Insular letter-forms which include a rounded e+s ligature, a long tongue on f, and round undotted y. A Caroline s+t ligature was used in stem, 63v. The conventional distinction between þ and ð was usually followed (but note ðiwende, 75r). The back of ð is long and slightly concave down, much like d but with a short, horizontal, high through-stroke. Straight-limbed y is found most often, although the round form was also used, and neither are dotted; a straight-limbed, dotted, but bilinear form is found once, looking exactly like the modern v (the first in wynsyme, 59v).