Hand: Prognostications, 'Gloria' (D.xxvii: 55v–56v), BL Cotton Titus D.xxvi and D.xxvii

Name

Prognostications, 'Gloria' (D.xxvii: 55v–56v)

Manuscript

BL Cotton Titus D.xxvi and D.xxvii

Script

Unspecified

Scribe

Unspecified

Date

Saec. xi2/4

Place

WiNM

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

This upright hand begins with a long and narrow aspect and a level cue-height but becomes more rounded and less regular as it progresses. The aspect changes significantly at the start of ‘The Gloria II’, 56v2, where the letters became smaller, the pen thinner, and capitals received coloured highlights; the letter-forms, however, are identical, including the distribution of þ and ð, as well as high and low s, and so both texts were probably written by the same scribe if at slightly different times. Ascenders are always longer than minims, and taper or have small wedges. Descenders are shorter but still usually longer than minims, are straight, and can have small horizontal finishing-strokes. Minims are straight, very slightly forward-leaning, and have small horizontal feet. A somewhat rounded but essentially teardrop-shaped a is normal, although the Caroline form does appear (gangeð, 55v1). A similar round structure can be used for æ, the bowl often higher than the lower curve of the e-component; more often, however, the a-component is Caroline and the head can rise above cue-height. The tongues of both æ and e are straight, thin, rising, and extend slightly beyond the hooks which can themselves be angled upwards but remains within cue-height. Round e was used, but horned e is more common. The back of d is long and angled at about 40–50° but vertical-tipped. The tongue of f is long and flat, and the hook branches from below cue-height. The top of g is long and straight, the mid-section is usually small, and the tail fairly wide and round with the tip turned up slightly. The shoulders of h, m, and n are usually somewhat rounded but the down-strokes are normally quite straight; r is typically more angular, and the down-stroke is angled out to the right. Low s is found but the long form is by far the more common (low s only in gesund, 55v8, seo, 56v2, and se, 56v4); the latter descends slightly below the base-line and has a long, curving hook which reaches over the following letter. No clear distinction was observed between þ and ð: spellings include biþ and bið, þu and ðu, þreo and ðreora. The back of ð is long and thin, rising initially at about 40–50° but curving upwards and sometimes back to the right, and the through-stroke is turned down on the right. The south-west stroke of x is long, thin, and curves up at the tip. Straight-limbed, dotted y is found throughout, the right branch being hooked left and the thin but short tail hooked right. The top of 7 is hooked up at the left and can be concave up, particularly on 56v; the down-stroke is approximately vertical.