Hand: Main Continuous Glossator, CCCC 214

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

This small, regular hand was written with a very thin pen and almost no shading. Ascenders are very long and straight with prominent wedges or split tops; descenders are shorter but also straight. Flat-topped a was used throughout but with a convex left side and sometimes with a very short top which can produce a teardrop-shape; the foot can be extended in a long, tapering flourish. A similar structure was used for æ, but the a-component has a more angled back and so is more teardrop-shaped or rotund; the hook is short and within cue-height and the tongue is rising, straight, long, and turned down at the tip. A low-æ ligature is found, including with c and o. Horned c appears throughout, although the horn is more of an approach-stroke which leads into an angled down-stroke. Round d was used with a short concave-down back rising above cue-height. Horned e was used, with the shape of c, and the hook and tongue of æ. The tongue of f rises very slightly and is hooked down at the tip; the hook is short and relatively flat, and the resultant form is much like that of Style-V Square minuscule. The top of g can be turned up on the left, and the mid-section hangs from slightly left of centre and is fairly vertical before curving smoothly to the right then closing off in a horizontal oblong. The down-stroke of k descends well below the base-line and is tapering, and the branches are formed like horned c. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r all turn quite sharply, and the down-strokes are relatively straight but can be angled in or out; the foot of r can be extended in a long tapering flourish like that of a. The n+T monogram also appears. Horned o was used with a long approach-stroke leading into an angled lower curve like that of c and e. Tall, low, and round s were all used but tall s is the most common. Tall s sits on the base-line and has a straight back and a small hook, and low s can be very deeply split. The top of t is normally flat but can be hooked up at the left. The conventional distinction between þ and ð was largely followed; the back of ð is long, thin, sometimes slightly broken, and has a long tapering approach-stroke at the tip. The south-west stroke of x can stop at the base-line or be long; when long it can be straight and turned up at the tip or tapering and curved left. Straight-limbed dotted y was used throughout, the tail of which is tapering and turns left. Latin text was written in Style-I Anglo-Caroline.