Hand: Hand 1 (note on xxvii, 25v, plus Latin xxvi, 20r–68r and xxvii, 22r–29v, 64v, 66, BL Cotton Titus D.xxvi and D.xxvii

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

This hand has a somewhat spindly aspect, is foward-leaning, and was written with a thin pen. The appearence is somewhat reminiscent of Ælfsige’s hand (cf. G.500-1), but the aspect is less idiosyncratic. Ascenders are about half again as long as minims and have small wedges. Descenders are often of similar length but can be somewhat shorter, and are straight. Minims have small, regular wedges and horizontal feet. The scribe used three strokes to write a — a flat top, a vertical back, and a slightly concave left side — but the result is close to teardrop-shaped. The a-component of æ is usually more or less Caroline in form, although the head of the a-component does not turn over fully to the left and so the letter looks more like horned e with a bulging stroke off the lower left. The hook of æ is small and rounded, and the tongue straight and angled steeply. Flat-topped a was also used for æ, though infrequently. The back of d is short, sometimes very short, is straight, and is angled at about 40°. Horned e was used throughout, the back straight, and the tongue and hook like those of æ. The tongue of f is thin and usually quite short, and the hook often branches well below cue-height; the tongue is once close to cue-height and is joined to the top of the following minim (fiftig, 25v10). The top of g is normally flat and can have a short vertical finial on the left, and the mid-section hangs from the centre and is close to vertical before turning fairly sharply right, then curving back down and left in a straight tail which is sometimes hooked up at the tip. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are all somewhat angular. Only long s is found, the hook of which is fairly narrow, and the down-stroke usually extends slightly below the base-line. The scribe showed some preference for ð over þ (bið ðæs, ðusend, ðonne, ðreo, but also hateþ, 25v8). The construction of ð is similar to that of d, although the back is steeper, much longer, and has a vertical tip; the through-stroke is hooked down on the right. The south-west branch of x extends below the preceding letter, and the two upper branches are hooked down. Straight-limbed dotted y was used throughout. The top of 7 is hooked up on the left and rises slightly, and the down-stroke is more or less vertical. Latin was carefully distinguished by script.