Hand: Main Hand, BL Stowe 944, fols. 6–61

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

This somewhat spindly, narrow, and forward-leaning hand was written with relatively little shading but a medium-width pen. Ascenders are slightly thicker, relatively short, and with small wedges; descenders are straight but often thicken towards the tips and can also have small feet. Minims are fairly straight, with horizontal feet and either wedges or approach-strokes. The top of a is normally straight but angled at about 30–45°, the back is vertical, and the bottom of the bowl was formed with a third stroke; the letter can be rounded but is often quite angular, and the back can descend below the bowl. The rounder form of a was also used for æ, the tongue of which sits on the shoulder at cue-height and is horizontal or rising, and the loop is high. Round c was used throughout, the hook of which is short and angled downwards. The back of d is low, angled at about 10°, but is long, reaching well past the bowl and over the preceding letter. Round e was used throughout, with a squinting round eye and a long straight rising tongue. The tongue of f is also straight and rising, and extends through the down-stroke. The top of g is long and also angled up very slightly; the mid-section hangs from the centre, angles slightly left, turns to about 30° down and right, and then swings sharply back to the left in a long, open curve which is vertical-tipped. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are all quite narrow and are often angular, often bulging out to the right; the foot of r is long and angled. Long s was used throughout, with a tall, narrow hook, a small wedge which is usually ‘inverted’ with a flat bottom and tapering upwards, and a long descender which thickens at the bottom. The conventional distinction was followed between þ and ð; the back of ð is long, reaches over the preceding letter, and curves up to the vertical or slightly to the right, and the through-stroke is hooked left at the tip. Straight-limbed dotted y was used throughout, the left branch thick, the right hooked left, and the tail hooked up at the tip and sometimes curving left. The top of 7 has a prominent curl on the left tip which extends up and almost back to the right; the top itself rises to the right and the descender thickens.