Hand: Additions, CCCC 162, pp. 1–138, 161–564

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

This quite regular, very fine hand was written with a thin pen and comparatively light brown ink. It has the small bodies and long ascenders typical of glosses written in the early eleventh century. Ascenders are straight, often have large pennant-shaped wedges, and are several times longer than minims. Descenders are slightly shorter but are still longer than minims, and are straight but tapering. Minims themselves are very small, with small wedges but no feet. A wide single-compartment a was used with an upright back, an angled but fairly straight top, and a rounded bottom. A similar structure was used for æ, the tongue of which is horizontal, the hook low, and the bottom of the e descending below the bowl of the a. Round c and d appear throughout, the back of the latter being short and quite low but still rising above cue-height. The back of e can be upright or more angled, but the lower curve is normally very short in comparison with the straight tongue and relatively wide hook; the letter is not usually horned but can be pointed where the hook joins the back. The tongue of f is flat, thick, and very short. The top-stroke of g is flat, the mid-section fairly open, and the tail forms a large open hook which extends beyond both ends of the top-stroke and reaches down to descender-length. The shoulders of h, m, and n begin well below cue-height and often branch from the base-line; they rise at about 45° before turning fairly sharply into a vertical down-stroke. The same can be true of r, but the shoulder in this case tends to branch from closer to cue-height and to turn more sharply, and the down-stroke tends to angle out away from the vertical. A small majuscule n is sometimes found (o n at the end of the line in a marginal addition to page 198). Tall s was used throughout. The conventional distinction was followed between þ and ð, the latter having a long, straight back which is angled at about 60° and hooked down at the tip, and the through-stroke is hooked down at the right. Straight-limbed dotted y is found. The top of 7 is angled down slightly, the down-stroke beginning above this and dropping vertically. A longer addition on page 107 seems to have been made by the same scribe, although the aspect and some of the letter-forms are slightly different. The hand here shows a somewhat lozenge-shaped a, with a straight top, a straight but angled back, and an angled south-west quadrant. Both c and e also feature angled south-western strokes. Bilinear d, all three forms of s, and round dotted y were all used. The back of ð is long, straight, angled at about 60°, hooked sharply down at the tip, and with a straight through-stroke which is turned down on the right. The tail of g is rounded and closed. A single bulging æ is found in ligature with a following r; otherwise both æ and e remain within cue-height. The tongue of e is largely horizontal but thickens and is very slightly turned down at the tip.