Hand: Main Hand, BL Cotton Otho A.xviii, fol. 131

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

This script was written with a fairly thick and somewhat flat pen. Ascenders are short, thick, and have slightly split wedges. Descenders are thick and tapering. Minims have horizontal approach-strokes and turn slightly at the base to form feet. A narrow but fairly rectangular horned a is found, the left side of which curves in slightly. A similar form was used for æ, the hook of which is angular, the eye squinting, the tongue approximately horizontal, and the letter never tall. A somewhat angular but never horned c is found, the lower stroke of which extends further right than the hook. The body of d is relatively large but the back is short and bilinear, although it can have a very slight upward tick at the tip. The body of e is angular and has a very slight horn, the tongue and hook are like those of æ, and g+e ligatures are found. The tongue of f is long and usually flat but sometimes slightly concave up, and the hook branches from below cue-height. The top of g is flat, the mid-section hangs from the right but bulges well to the left, and the tail is closed in a round but fairly small loop. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are not especially round but the minim-strokes are straight. Only low s is found, and s+s ligatures were used. The scribe preferred ð to þ. The back of ð is quite steep, angled at about 70°, and quite thick, but turns up at the tip, and the through-stroke is fairly straight but hooked down at the tip. Straight-limbed dotted y was used throughout, the right branch of which is hooked left.