Hand: Main Hand 3 (39r–44r), BL Cotton Tiberius A.xiii, fols. 1–118

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

This hand varies between compressed and quite rounded; when compressed the hand is heavier and more shaded, and when rounded it is lighter and with less shading. Ascenders are long and have small but regular wedges. Descenders are also long and sometimes have angled finials. Minims have short, curved approach-strokes and horizontal feet. Teardrop-shaped a was used, with a small part of the top of the letter formed by the same stroke as the back. Caroline a is also found on occasion, sometimes in ligature with preceding e. A similar but wider and more rotund form was used in æ, the tongue of which is horizontal at cue-height and the loop tall and forward-leaning in ligature with following g or t. Round c was used throughout. The back of d is relatively short but angled at about 80° and turning up or slightly right at the tip. The back of e is vertical and with a small horn, the lower curve is relatively short, the tongue is long, straight, and angled up slightly, and the hook is rounded. The tongue of f is short, fairly thin, and on the base-line. The top of g is horizontal, the tail hangs from slightly left of centre, curves out a little to the left but then further back to the right before finishing with a rounded, open curve turned up at the tip. The shoulders of h, m, n and r are both quite rounded and branch from slightly below cue-height. Long s is found before t, with a long hook reaching well over the following letter and curving slightly back to the left, and low s is found otherwise with a short hook. The scribe mostly followed the conventional distinction between þ and ð but favoured ð on 43r, perhaps because of his exemplar. The back of ð is fairly steep and turns up like that of ð, and the through-stroke is long and hooked up on the left and down on the right. The upper branches of x curve down, the lower branches curve up, and the lower left quadrant is long. Straight-limbed dotted y was used most often, although round dotted y is also found; the right branch of straight-limbed y is hooked left, and the tail is hooked right. The top of 7 is hooked up on the left and is rising, and the downstroke is straight. Latin script is Style-I Anglo-Caroline.