Hand: Twenty-eight Glosses, BL Royal 12.C.xxiii

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

These glosses were written in a regular and neat hand with a fairly thin pen. Ascenders are long and have small wedges, and descenders are long and straight. The bodies of letters are small but can be spaced laterally. Minims have short, straight approach-strokes but often only the last minim of m or n has feet. A somewhat rounded but essentially flat-topped a was used most often, although a more teardrop-shaped form is also found. The a-component of æ is similar but usually wider and usually less clearly flat-topped and is never tall. Round c was used, as was Caroline d very often, although a rounded, concave-down form of d is found once (ðræd, 103r). Round e was used throughout, the tongue of which is straight and rising. Only three glosses contain f; the first and third have Insular f with short tongue and hook (of twice, 84v and 103r), but the lengthy second gloss (100v) uses Caroline f repeatedly with a very tall hook and long tongue. The top of g is flat, the mid-section hangs from the centre and is angular but very small, and the tail is wide, round, and open. Caroline g is also found. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r can be fairly angular, and the hook of r can remain close to cue-height, the letter therefore a hybrid of Insular and Caroline forms. Tall s was used most often, although long and occasionally low s are also found, as is the Caroline s+t ligature. The scribe seemed to favour ð over þ, the latter appearing only once (umsmeþust, 86v). The back of ð is long, slightly concave down, and with a short through-stroke which is hooked down on the right. Straight-limbed undotted y was used throughout. One gloss (on 100v) is substantially longer than the others and contains more Caroline letter-forms (regular Caroline d, f, g, and r) but was probably still written by the same scribe. This gloss is also the only one to use 7, the top-stroke of which is slightly concave up and with a down-stroke which starts slightly above the top-stroke.