Hand: Scribbles ('letter', 198v), BL Royal 2.B.v

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

This hand is current, with very little pen-lift and with many letters joined. The pen was very thin, the ink dark, and the letters small. Despite the informal hand, ascenders can still have heavy wedges, although some lack decoration. Minims can have small approach-strokes of sorts but usually lack feet. A fairly wide but flat-topped a is normal, although there may be one occurrence of Caroline a (swa, last line of text). A similar, essentially flat-topped but narrower form was used for æ, the tongue of which is straight and rising and the hook rounded. Round c was used throughout. The back of d is low but tends to rise slightly above cue-height and can be angled at about 45°. Round e is found with a straight rising tongue, but a theta-shaped form was also used, the tongue of which is horizontal and usually ligatured to the following letter, but the hook of which remains fairly low. The tongue of f is long and rising. The top-stroke of g is flat; the mid-section hangs from close to the centre and descends in a straight line down and left, then turns sharply right at the base-line; and the tail curves around in a long, oblong-shaped, three-quarter-closed loop which hangs down to the left. The shoulder of h branches from the base-line, the letter probably being written in a single stroke. Both m and n were written with almost no pen-lift. Long s is found most often, although the round form also occurs. The conventional distinction between þ and ð was followed throughout. The back of ð is long, fairly straight, and angled at about 45°, and the through-stroke is straight. The south-west branch of x extends below the base-line, and the north-east branch is hooked down at the tip. Straight-limbed y was used, usually with a small and rather faint dot.