Hand: Main Hand, W.A.M. 67209

Name: Main Hand
Manuscript: W.A.M. 67209
Script: Unspecified
Scribe: Unspecified
Date: Saec. xi1
Place: Unknown

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

This small, neatly-written script has a somewhat upright appearance and a level cue-height; the pen was of medium width and held fairly flat. Ascenders are thick, long and straight, with small wedges; descenders are shorter and taper slightly. Minims are short, straight, and upright, with small wedges or approach-strokes and usually but not always with small feet. The shape of a is always close to teardrop, but the left side can be curved outwards and the straight angled top can be very short, giving the letter a more rounded appearance. Only one example of æ appears on the narrow fragment (wæs, recto line 20): it also has a teardrop-shaped a-component and a squinting eye with a straight rising tongue. Round c was used throughout, with a small hook, and d has a fairly long rounded back which normally remains within cue-height. Round e appears throughout, with a squinting eye and a long straight rising tongue; tall e was never used. The tongue of f is short and flat, and the hook is also short. The mid-section of g is quite small and the tail S-shaped but extending slightly to the right of the flat top. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are all slightly angular and the minims straight, although the last shoulder of m in particular can be more rounded and swollen. Tall and low s were both used: tall seems to be the most common form, with low only finally or when doubled (but including þas sar, verso line 7). Tall s has a small hook at ascender-height and descends slightly below the base-line and tapers to the left; low s has a small hook. The conventional distinction was observed between þ and ð, although both could be used as capitals (see Ða and Þa, recto lines 18–19). The back of ð is long and thick, angled at about 30°, and vertical-tipped, and the short through-stroke is turned up on the left and down on the right. Straight-limbed y was used throughout, both dotted and undotted; the right branch is hooked left and the tail right. No examples of x or z can be found. The top of 7 is hooked up on the left, is angled up, and has a vertical descender.