Hand: Hand 1 (97r, 100r, 103r1–17, 103v12–?105r, 109r, 112rv), Bodleian Bodley 865 (2737), fols. 97–112

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

This hand is clearly derived from Square minuscule but is rather more rounded than that script. The hand is quite rough and was written with a fairly thick pen but has some shading. Ascenders are about the length of minims and have heavy wedges. Descenders are much the same length and are straight. Minims have approach-strokes and small feet. Horned flat-topped a is found, the sides of which can lean slightly left but are straight, and the body is tall and narrow. The same form was used for æ, the tongue of which is straight and the hook low and sometimes in low ligature with following g or t. Round c was used, as was round d, the back of which is short and angled at about 30–45°. Round e is also found, but the back can be fairly close to vertical, and the horned form is sometimes found; the hook and tongue are like those of æ. The tongue of f is very short and is concave up. The top of g is flat, the mid-section short and fairly straight, and the tail curved, wide, but open and horizontal at the tip. The shoulders of h, m, and n can be somewhat rounded or more angular, but the down-strokes are consistently straight. The down-stroke of r is turned back to the left and the foot is large. Round and low s are found. The back of ð is straight, fairly short, and angled at about 45°, and the through-stroke is hooked down. The left-right stroke of x is straight, the north-east branch is hooked down, and the south-west branch is long and straight. Bilinear dotted round y is found, as is straight-limbed undotted y with the right branch hooked left and the tail hooked right. The top of 7 has a prominent upward curve on the left. Latin is distinguished by script.