Hand: Main Hand, BnF anglais 67

Name

Main Hand

Manuscript

BnF anglais 67

Script

Unspecified

Scribe

Unspecified

Date

Saec. xi1

Place

Unknown (Ælfric)

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

This somewhat angular and not especially regular script is fairly heavy but with some shading. Ascenders are usually shorter than minims and have regular wedges. Descenders are straight and usually longer than ascenders and often longer than minims. Minims have small wedges and horizontal feet and tend to curve out slightly to the right. An essentially teardrop-shaped but usually more rounded a was normally used, although the letter can be quite lozenge-shaped. The more rounded form was used for æ, the tongue of which can be high, straight and rising and the hook low and rounded. Tall-æ ligatures with narrow but slightly forward-leaning hooks were used before a following descender or minim. Round c was used throughout. The back of d is short, angled at about 45°, and either straight or concave down. Horned e was used throughout, the back vertical, the tongue usually straight, high, and rising, and the hook low. Tall e was sometimes used before g and t, but the hook is usually lower and wider than in tall æ. The tongue of f is quite short and the hook branches from mid-height. The top of g is flat and relatively short; the mid-section is rounded, hangs from the centre, and bulges to the left before turning back to the horizontal or down and left, and then curving into a round open hook, usually turned up slightly at the tip. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are all quite angular and turn into the down-stroke which can be vertical, particularly for r, or can curve out to the right before turning back in to the left. Low s is normal but the tall form was used before t and n. Tall s sits firmly on the base-line and reaches up to or just beyond ascender-height; before t it curves back down to meet the top of the following letter, looking not unlike the Caroline ligature except that a separate stroke was used for the lower curve of t. The conventional distinction between þ and ð was largely followed, except for a tendency to write þa ða. The structure of ð is much like that of d exept that the back is steeper, usually about 60°, straighter, and slightly longer; the through-stroke is hooked down on the right. Straight-limbed dotted y was used, the top usually concave up and the down-stroke very close to vertical. Latin is not distinguished by script.