Hand: Hand 3 (fols 88–149, 202–17), CCCC 198

Name

Hand 3 (fols 88–149, 202–17)

Manuscript

CCCC 198

Script

Unspecified

Scribe

Unspecified

Date

Saec. xi1

Place

Worcester

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

This hand is also relatively heavy and somewhat laterally spaced, with short wedged ascenders and short straight descenders. Minims vary in angle and straightness and have small approach-strokes and feet. A somewhat rotund, single-compartment a is found throughout, the left side convex and the top and right formed by a single stroke. The back of the a-component of æ tends to be more steeply angled, sometimes as much as 45°. The tongues of æ and e are usually horizontal and at cue-height, and the hooks either rise in wide, curved loops or are short and angular; in the former case, e can be very theta-shaped. Round c is found throughout, as is bilinear d. The tongue of f is long, straight, and on the base-line, and the hook meets the vertical only slightly above this. The mid-section of g can be slightly angular or more S-shaped; the tail is consistently open and turns up very slightly at the tip. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are often angular, particularly for r which also has a long, horizontal foot. Only low s was used. The scribe strongly preferred ð to þ, using the latter only initially and the former in any position. The back of ð is long and thick, rising at about 40° before turning up or back to the right; the through-stroke has a prominent downward hook on the right and does not always pass entirely through the back. The second, right-to-left stroke of x is concave down and curves sharply downward in the south-west quadrant. Straight-limbed, undotted y appears throughout, the left branch of which is unusually long, unusually close to horizontal, and often touches the previous letter. The top of 7 begins with an upward hook and rises somewhat, and the descender is vertical. Latin is not always distinguished from Old English, although Caroline s, r, and f are found.