Hand: Hand 2 (25r), BL Cotton Vitellius C.viii, fols. 22–25

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

This hand is smaller than G.404-1, was written with a thinner pen, and has narrower and taller letters. Ascenders are about the same length as minims and have wedges which can be hollow or slightly split. Descenders are longer, taper, and turn slightly to the right, creating a strong sense of hanging from the base-line. Minims are thin and have small wedges and horizontal feet which were added with separate strokes. A tall, narrow, very rectangular horned a was used, written with two strokes and not unlike G.442-1. A very simlar form was also used for æ, the tongue of which is high and horizontal, and the eye very small, angular, and never rising above cue-height. A single example of Caroline a is also found (the first in epacta, 25r10). The hook of c is quite flat and the lower curve can be somewhat angular and usually forms a slight point or a small horn on the left. Round d was used with a fairly short back angled at about 30°. The hook and eye of e are exactly like those of æ; the back is straight and vertical, the lower stroke quite angular, and the letter has a prominent horn. The tongue of f is relatively long and is flat. The top of g is short and flat, and the mid-section hangs from the centre and curves smoothly right, and the tail hooks back with a long hairline stroke which nearly but never quite closes the loop. The upper branch of k is hooked up. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are all quite rounded, although r is less so and has a more vertical down-stroke. Only low s was used except for a single occurrence of the Caroline form. The conventional distinction was followed between þ and ð; the back of the latter is long, straight, and angled at about 45°, and the through-stroke is hooked down on the right. The upper strokes of x are both hooked down and the lower ones hooked up; the lower left stroke is long and descends beneath the preceding letter. Straight-limbed dotted y was used, the right branch of which is hooked left. The top of 7 is flat but hooked up slightly on the left, and the down-stroke is vertical. Latin was carefully distinguised by script.