Hand: Additions (Ker articles 2–18), CCCC 41

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

The extensive additions to the margins were perhaps written by a single scribe, but the aspect changes noticably between texts which suggests that they were written at different times. The ink ranges from quite light brown to dark black; the pen can be quite thin or much thicker; the script is usually forward-leaning but varies in angle; the letters can be more or less laterally compressed but are normally quite angular. Ascenders are usually about minim-length and have small wedges or hooks, but they can be much shorter and can lack wedges entirely. Descenders are usually the same length as minims but can be shorter; they are straight and can have small finishing-strokes. Minims are fairly straight and have feet and small hooks or wedges. The top and back of a were often formed with a minim-stroke, or with a straight stroke angled at about 70°, but both cases are normally teardrop-shaped. Horned flat-topped æ was used with an angled back, and the hook is angular and the tongue high and rising. Round c and d were used throughout, the latter usually close to bilinear and sometimes with a turned-up tip. Horned e was used, with an angular hook and a straight tongue. The tongue of f is flat, thin, and on the base-line, and the hook is normally very high and constructed like long s. The tail of g hangs from the middle of the top-stroke, the mid-section is small but very angular, and the tail is large, round, and open. The branches of k are shaped like horned c, and the vertical drops by a full descender-length. The shoulders of h, m, and n can be either rounded or angular, as can r although this is rarely rounded and the minim here tends to point back in to the left. Long s is normal, although low s does appear, and round s was used in the abbreviation sanctus and very occasionally elsewhere. Long s has a straight back formed from two strokes which were often poorly joined and can be in ligature with following t, and both long and low forms have a straight stroke angled up at about 10–15° with a sharp downward hook. The toe of t can be turned up. The conventional distinction between þ and ð was largely followed, although the scribe seemed to prefer ð; this letter has a long, thick, and fairly straight back which is angled at about 80° and is sometimes hooked up or right at the tip, and it also has a thin through-stroke with a thick downward hook. Straight-limbed and round y were used, both with and without the dot. The top-stroke of 7 usually has a small upward hook on the left and rises to the right, whreas the descender is vertical. Latin is distinguished from the vernacular by Caroline a and d and the form of g.