Hand: Laws, Hand 2 (3v4–4v), BL Harley 55, fols. 1–4

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

This messy and irregular script is much longer, narrower, more angular, and with more shading than G.412-1. Ascenders are long, sometimes more than twice the length of minims, and wedges are often very heavy. Descenders are also long and straight. Minims tend to be straight, to have wedges or approach-strokes, and to have straight bottoms or small or fairly prominent rising feet. Teardrop-shaped a was used, normally with a vertical back and pointed top, even though this top was usually formed with the same stroke as the back. The same structure was used for æ; the tongue of both this and round e is horizontal or slightly rising and is usually tapered but sometimes hooked down, and the eye is usually rounded and slightly above cue-height. Round c was normally used; a small horn is found once (ælc, 3v7), but the lower stroke here seems to have been particularly badly formed. The back of d is relatively long, starting at about 45° before tapering and turning up. The tongue of f is short, tapering, and concave up. The top of g is also tapering and concave up, and the tail is angular, open, usually hanging from the right, and therefore 3-shaped. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r, though not especially angular, do turn through quite a large angle, beginning with a straight rising stroke from well below cue-height and ending with a vertical down-stroke. Long s was used throughout, with a prominent wedge at cue-height, a small hook slightly below ascender-height, and a long tail reaching down by a descender’s length. Low s in final position, round dotted y, and round s in conjunction with round y all appear clustered around lines 4r8–13, although there is no other evidence for a change of hand at this point. The conventional distinction was followed between þ and ð, the latter having a similar structure to d but with a longer back and a through-stroke which is hooked up on the left and down on the right. Straight-limbed y was used except for the short section around 4r8–13 described above; both dotted and undotted forms were used without any apparent distinction, and the first lines literally alternate in this respect. The top of 7 is very concave up and is hooked up on the left, and the down-stroke is straight and vertical.