Hand: Charm 1 (ii recto), Bodleian Auctarium F.3.6 (2666)

Name

Charm 1 (ii recto)

Manuscript

Bodleian Auctarium F.3.6 (2666)

Script

Unspecified

Scribe

Unspecified

Date

Saec. xi

Place

Unknown (Exeter by s. xi3/4)

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

This charm was probably written in the mid-eleventh century, although the brevity of the text and roughness of the hand make it difficult to date. The rotundity and proportions seem influenced by Style-IV Anglo-Caroline. The two ascenders are short and are once clubbed and once with a small wedge. The descenders are about minim-length and are straight. A fairly rotund a was used, as was a very round æ, the tongue of which is straight but rises to form the top of the following t, although the hook is round and low. The back of d is steep and turns to the vertical. A horned but still quite rounded e was used. The shoulders of h, n, and r are all quite rounded. The conventional distinction was followed between þ and ð, and the back of the latter is long, slightly curved up, but hooked down at the tip, and the through-stroke is also hooked down.