Hand: Hand 8 (fols. 288r–321r, 386–94), CCCC 198

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

This hand is fairly heavy, quite noticably shaded, and has a slightly pointed aspect. Ascenders are slightly longer than minims and have large, heavy pointed wedges which can be split. Descenders are often short and curve left. Minims are relatively straight and have small approach-strokes and feet. Single-compartment a was written with a thin, curving left stroke and a much thicker second stroke on the top and right; it can, therefore, be a well-formed rotund letter or can look almost semi-Caroline. The same structure appears in æ with a tongue almost at cue-height and a high hook. In contrast, e is squinting and bilinear, with a straight rising tongue turned down at the tip and a relatively flat, angular hook; the letter is not always horned, but does always have a thick and more or less vertical back. Round c appears throughout, and d is bilinear but vertical-tipped. The tongue of f is concave up, beginning slightly above the base-line and extending slightly beyond the hook. The mid-section of g hangs from the left of the long, thick top-stroke which in turn has a slight upward tick at the left and tapers at the right; the body curves out slightly to the left before swinging well to the right and then closing off in a large, round loop. An alternative, essentially Caroline form was sometimes used (the second in bigenga, 298v20): it shows a circular top, a pointed, cedilla-shaped tail, and a horizontal stroke projecting from the upper right. The shoulders of h, m, n, and to a lesser extend r can be quite rounded and swollen. Bilinear majuscule n appears occasionally in final position before marks of punctuation. Tall and low s both appear. Tall s descends very slightly below the base-line and has a harge hook at or above ascender-height, and low s is deeply split and branches from the base-line or below. The curved lower stroke of t occasionally extends in a point above the top-stroke (both occurrences in sette, 298v22); the curve itself hangs from near the left of the top-stroke. The scribe preferred ð to þ, the former having a thick back angled at about 40° and with a vertical tip, and the through-stroke being hooked down at the right and barely passing through the back. Straight-limbed and round y were used, both dotted; the former has a small leftward hook at the end of the tail and is turned slightly left at the top, and the latter descends only slightly below the base-line. The top of 7 is horizontal or only slightly angled, with a hook at the left and an approximately vertical descender.