Hand: Hand 2 (97v, 101v–102v, 103r17–103v12, 105v–?106v, 107v–108v, 110r–111v), Bodleian Bodley 865 (2737), fols. 97–112

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

This somewhat messy, slightly backward-leaning hand has relatively square proportions and a good deal of shading. Ascenders are short, no longer than minims, with large heavy wedges, and descenders are thin, straight, and about the same length as descenders. Minims are thick and relatively straight, with approach-strokes or wedges and small feet. Horned a appears throughout, structured much like a u but more narrow and with a flat slightly rising top. The same structure was used for æ, the hook rising slightly above cue-height with a thin rising tongue. Tall æ is also found but not in ligature (e.g. fæsten, 107v19). Both c and e are horned, the backs of both are angled, and the eye of e the same as that of æ. The back of d is straight and thick, angled at about 20–30° and extending very slightly behind the bowl. The tongue of f is concave up, beginning above the base-line but curving down to meet it before curving up again. The tail of g is rounded and closed, and the mid-section is relatively large. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are all rounded and bulging, the foot of r thin and rising. Tall, low and round s all appear, tall before t, round initially (but note is, 107v14), and low elsewhere. Tall s has a thin, reaching, curved top, and round s has a small upper section and rises slightly above cue-height. The scribe used þ and ð with little distinction (soþlice, soðlice, þa, ða); ð was constructed much like d, although the back is often longer; the through-stroke is thin, relatively low, and hooked down on the right and sometimes up on the left. The north-east branch of x is hooked left and the south-west branch is long and hooked right. Straight-limbed y was used, both dotted and undotted, as was the dotted round form. Straight-limbed y has a thick lower left branch, a leftward hook on the top of the right branch, and a slight rightward hook at the tip of the tail. Round y is essentially bilinear. The top of 7 is short, flat, and slightly below cue-height, and the descender is vertical. Latin is distinguished by script.