Hand: Main Hand, Copenhagen, RAP 637–659, 661, 669–671, 674–698

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

This small hand is largely very upright, but can be slightly backward-leaning, and was written with a relatively flat pen. Ascenders are long, thick and straight, usually with small wedges or slight thickening at the tips. Descenders are also straight, occasionally with a small rising finishing-stroke, and are frequently, though not always, shorter. Minims are usually straight and can be upright or slightly backward-leaning; they have small approach-strokes and sharply angled feet. Single-compartment a was used throughout, the bowl usually being round but sometimes closer to teardrop-shaped; the back is thick, often angled at about 70°, and can descend below the bottom-stroke of the bowl. A similar structure was used for æ, and the eye of æ and e is tall and ligatured whenever possible; otherwise the hook is low, the tongue straight and rising but turning to horizontal as it passes the hook and then turning down at the tip. Round c with a small hook was used throughout, and d is bilinear with a thick back which reaches back to the preceding letter. Horned e appears most often, the back being more or less vertical, although a round form is found occasionally (feo, 10v20). The tongue of f is long and flat, and the hook small. The top of g is flat and relatively long, the mid-section descends from the left and swings almost horizontally to the right, almost touching the following letter, and then drops sharply to form a wide open tail which hangs right of centre and ticks up at the end. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are often rounded and bulging, the down-stroke sometimes turning back to the left, but can also be quite straight and angled out to the right. Tall and low s are both found, the former often finally and before t. When before t, the tall form has a long heavy loop which curves down almost to cue-height; otherwise the hook is much smaller. The conventional distinction between þ and ð was followed quite closely. The descender of þ is often quite short. The back of ð is long, thick, and angled from about 20–45°; it is normally straight but can be turned up or down at the tip, and the cross-stroke is short, sits entirely on the right side of the back, and has a prominent downward hook. Straight-limbed dotted y was used, the tail sometimes short and thick but more often long and thin. The tail can be hooked right, particularly when short, the right branch can be hooked left, and the left branch is often thick. An almost bilinear z was used (ezechiam, 10v20), the top of which is thick, slightly concave up, and at cue-height, the diagonal thin and reaching slightly below cue-height, and the bottom waving on the base-line. The top of 7 is thick, short, and turned up slightly at both ends, and the descender is angled slightly left and often thickens at the tip.