Hand: Main Hand, CCCC 188

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

This relatively heavy and somewhat rotund hand has small bodies and is somewhat laterally compressed, particularly in the earlier folios. Ascenders are rarely longer than minims except on the first line of the page; they typically curve slightly right and have well-formed wedges. Descenders are short, tapering, and often turn left. Minims curve out slightly to the right and have heavy approach-strokes and approximately horizontal feet. Single-compartment a was used throughout, teardrop-shaped early on in the manuscript but later having a more rounded top formed by the same stroke as the back which itself often descends below the bottom of the bowl. Much the same structure was used for æ, the hook of which can rise slightly above cue-height and often forms a slightly awkward ligature with following g or t. Both æ and e are squinting and show straight, rising tongues. Round and horned e are found, the lower stroke of which often curves up to meet the tongue. Round c was used throughout, as was bilinear d with a thick but short back. The tongue of f is short and can be straight or concave up, and the hook is even shorter. The mid-section of g hangs from the right of the narrow top and is slightly angular, and the tail is larger and closed. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are rounded and bulging, but the minims are approximately vertical; the foot of r begins horizontally but curves up. Low s was used most often and almost without exception in the later parts of the manuscript, but tall or long s is found finally and before wynn, particularly in swa, and round s also appears. The down-stroke of long s can reach almost to descender-length but is often short; the hook tends to be short before wynn and longer when final. Round s has a short upper hook, and the hook on low s is quite angular. The conventional distinction between þ and ð was followed. The descender on þ can be particularly short and the vertical often bulges out to the left before turning left again at the tip. The back of ð is long, angled at about 70º–80º, and curved up slightly; the through-stroke is short, can be slightly concave down, and sits high on the back, often with a downward hook on the right. The south-west quadrant of x is long, thin, and hooked slight rightwards; the north-east arm turns up slightly, and the left-to-right stroke is slightly concave down before turning up at the tip. Straight-limbed, round, and f-shaped y all appear, all dotted. The right branch of straight-limbed y is hooked left at the top. Bilinear z was used throughout, the top of which is ~-shaped. The top of 7 is short, straight, and rises slightly, and the descender is long and angled slightly left. Latin script is not distinguished from Old English by letter-form, although the lections at the start of homilies were usually written in reduced script with small bodies and lengthened ascenders.