Hand: Charm 2 (iii verso), Bodleian Auctarium F.3.6 (2666)

Name

Charm 2 (iii verso)

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 hand is exceptionally irregular and looks very much like the work of a scribe in the early stages of his education. Letters are poorly formed and extremely varied in form and size. Ascenders are usually longer than minims and are usually tapering, but approach-strokes and clumsy wedges are also found. Descenders are straight and are also long. Minims have approach-strokes and small, horizontal feet. Caroline a is found throughout, the back of which is quite thick and vertical, and the head very small. A similar form was used in æ, though with a lower and still smaller head; the tongue begins at mid-height and rises, and the hook is round. The back of d is long and very steep, in one case vertical and in another angled at about 85° but then turning over to the right. Horned e is found, the back upright, the lower curve short and horizontal, the tongue moderately long and slightly rising, and the hook angular and turned back slightly to the left. An unusual form of f is found: i stands on the base-line, the tongue is just below cue-height, the back reaches up to ascender-height where it thickens or has a small wedge, and the hook then reaches out and slightly up, turned down at the tip. The top of g is flat or concave up; the mid-section is small and the loop very narrow but often quite long, and usually three-quarters closed. Shoulders of h, m, n, and r are all quite angular, particularly r, the stroke of which starts below cue-height, rises slightly, then turns down and out slightly to the right, before turning once again in a long, straight, slightly rising foot. Tall s was used, the back long and straight, and the hook angular, the form exactly like that of f. In one case, the letter is very deeply split, the hook starting at the base-line, angled out by a few degrees, and then turning right. A very clumsy round s is also found once (se, after hors, line 7); the letter rises above cue-height and descends below the base-line. The text does not allow for þ. The structure of ð is exactly like that of d; the through-stroke is short, high, hooked down on the right, and barely passes through the left of the back. None of x, y, or 7 is found.