Hand: Hand 1 (37–38v, 45–49v, 64v, 71rv, 76–102, 104–71v, 120–5, 125v–6, 133, 137, 140, BL Cotton Galba A.xiv

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

This hand has a rather irregular appearance and shows heavy wedges and many broken strokes. Ascenders are straight, equal to or slightly shorter than minims, and show irregular small wedges. Descenders are straight, tapering, and often shorter than ascenders. Minims are slightly forward-leaning and have large, heavy wedges and prominent rising feet. Flat-topped a is found in e+a ligatures, but otherwise single-compartment a was used and was often formed with a thick, ˘-shaped top, a vertical back, and a curved south-west quadrant. A similar construction was used for æ, except that the top of the a-component is angled at about 45° and so the component is more teardrop-shaped; the e-component has a round hook, a thick lower curve, and a thick tongue which begins at mid-height and turns down at the tip. Roundc was used, the hook of which is shorter than the lower curve, and the back of d is usually close to horizontal but somewhat concave, although it can be broken and curve down slightly and then up, or be straight and angled at about 45°. Horned e is found with a very prominent wedge, a round hook, a long tongue at mid-height, and a smaller lower curve. Tall e is also found, particularly before n, and shows a high, bulging, and sometimes slightly open loop. The tongue of f is thick and on the base-line but is ~-shaped and tapers at both ends. The top of g is thick, the mid-section hangs from the middle or left and curves slightly left, and the tail is closed. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are all very rounded, the strokes beginning well below cue-height and swelling as they turn over into the rounded down-stroke; that of r usually curves well in to the left before turning out again in a prominent foot. Low, long, and round s were all used, low being the most common, and long only before t. Low s is deeply split and shows a tapering descender; the top of long s reaches back down to touch the top of the following t; round s can descend below the base-line. The top of t is thick but tapers at both ends and is noticeably ~-shaped. The scribe seemed to favour ð over þ, writing þe and the usual abbreviation for þæt but using ð elsewhere. The back of ð is long, thick, and curves gently upwards, and the through-stroke is fairly thick, fairly straight, and shows just a hint of an upward hook on the left and a downward hook on the right. The top branches of x curve down, the south-east branch curves up, and the south-west branch is long and straight. Straight-limbed and round y were both used and are both dotted. Round y is close to bilinear and has a prominent downward hook on the right branch, and straight-limbed y has a thick left branch and a long, thin tail angled at about 70° but curving downwards. The top of 7 is hooked up slightly on the left and curves up slightly on the right, and the descender is approximately vertical.