Hand: Metrical Inscription (31v), BL Cotton Claudius A.iii, fols. 31–86 and 106–50

Name

Metrical Inscription (31v)

Manuscript

BL Cotton Claudius A.iii, fols. 31–86 and 106–50

Script

Unspecified

Scribe

Unspecified

Date

Saec. x/xi

Place

Worcester or York

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

This relatively neat script was written with a somewhat rounded pen and has a somewhat spaced appearance, but the letter-forms and proportions are close to square. Ascenders are thick, usually longer than minims, and are slightly tapering but have wedges. Descenders are also thick and straight but are usually quite short. Minims are short, fairly straight, though not especially upright, and have small approach-strokes and small feet. The top of a was formed with an approximately straight horizontal stroke which turns sharply downwards to form the back, and the back often descends slightly below the base-line before curving up again; the bowl was closed with a much more rounded stroke forming the right and bottom and does not reach down as far as the back. A similar form was used for æ, the hook of which is always round and high, and the tongue more or less horizontal. Horned c and e were used throughout. Like æ, the hook of e is always high but tends to be more angular, and the tongue is angled up when in ligature with a following minim or descender. The back of d is long, straight, and angled at about 40°. The tongue of f is long, straight, and slightly above cue-height. The mid-section of g hangs from the left, and the tail is a relatively straight stroke angled back to the right at about 30–45° and then closed in a small loop. The top of g is normally flat but is once ~-shaped and once extended and turned up at the end of a line. The shoulders of h, m, and n are neither especially rounded nor angular: they all begin below cue-height, are relatively straight and angled up at about 30°, then turn down smoothly and with a slight bulge in the stroke. In contrast, r is much more rounded, although with a larger foot, and has a short descender. Only round s is found, the lower curve of which is small. The top of t can be extended and turned up at the tip: this form is found once at the end of the line and once initially (lines 14 and 4, respectively). The conventional distinction between þ and ð was partially followed: ð appears once medially and once finally (wurðe, line 4; þureð, line 3), and þ was only used initially except once (fremaþ, line 13). The construction of ð is very much like that of d, except perhaps for a slightly longer back, and the through-stroke is straight, barely extends through the back, reaches some distance to the right, and has no hook at either end. Straight-limbed dotted y was used throughout, the right branch of which is hooked left and the tail thickened slightly. The top of 7 is hooked on the left and curves up on the right, and the down-stroke turns slightly left.