Hand: Four Glosses (ic halsige, 27r; geclænsa, gehæf, gescyld, 36r [formerly 34r]), BL Cotton Galba A.xiv

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

The first gloss (ic halsige) is now barely legible. The ascenders are very long and have small wedges, and descenders are long and straight. The two examples of i have small approach-strokes and horizontal ticks for feet. The back of a is steep and extends slightly past the bowl which is almost Caroline in shape. Round e was used, the tongue of which is high, straight, and rising. The top of g is flat, the mid-section fairly angular, and the tail closed in an angled oblong. Low s was used. The second set of glosses, all on 34r, were again written with a very thin pen and have long, thin ascenders with heavy, vertically symmetrical wedges. The text does not allow for descenders, and the only possiblity for a wedged minim is the first stroke of the n in geclænsa which is ligatured to the preceding æ. The back of a is quite steep, and the body is essentially teardrop-shaped. The bodies of æ are somewhat rounder, and the first occurrence has the hint of a Caroline head on the a-component. The tongues of e and æ are straight, start at about mid-height, are angled up, and turn up at the tip when the letter is final. The three occurrences of e are all ligatured to the preceding g. The top of g itself is flat, the mid-section is somewhat angular in the first example but hangs from the left and is more open in the next two, and in all three cases the tail is open and angled down diagonally at first but then turned to the horizontal at the tip. The shoulders of h and n are somewhat angular but perhaps more because of rapid writing than deliberate design. The back of d is essentially horizontal but turns up at the tip. Caroline s was used, as was straight-limbed dotted y, both branchs of which hook left and the tail of which curves back to the left and up slightly at the tip.