Hand: Ten Glosses (3r, 5r, 6r, 16v, 28r, 30r), BL Royal 15.B.xix, fols. 1–35

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

Although Ker implied that all ten glosses were in the same hand,Ker, Catalogue, p. 335 (no. 268) this is in fact unlikely. The first two, col and of, were written in very dark ink, in a very small hand with fairly round bodies. The ascender of l is very short and has just the slightest hint of a wedge; the lower curve is long and slightly below the base-line. Round c was used, and f is Caroline and slightly forward-leaning. All of the glosses on 5r (up, awen, and gelengae) were probably written by a single scribe, who was probably not the same as 3r. The ink is much lighter, and the pen is much thicker and was held fairly flat. The script is wider, rougher, and more angular than on 3r. Ascenders and descenders are short; ascenders lack wedges but the tops of minims and descenders have very small wedges or approach-strokes. Straight-backed a was used in awen, the body a somewhat rounded teardrop shape, and an approximately Caroline form was used for gelengae. Round e was used, the tongue long and curving up when final. The top of g is flat, the mid-section hangs from the centre and is somewhat rounded, and the tail forms a round, three-quarter closed loop. The gloss on 6r, reccean, was again written with dark ink but is even rougher than those of 5r, many of the strokes not joining properly. The pen was held fairly flat once again, and the script is relatively wide and angular. Flat-topped a was used, the strokes of which are disjoint, and the top and back were probably formed with a single angular stroke. Horned e was used with a horizontal tongue, a short lower curve, and a low hook. Although c is not horned as such, the back is quite angular and the hook flat, producing an angular north-west quadrant. The descender of r is very short, and the shoulders of both this and n are angular and disjoint; indeed, the -an ending looks like a series of four minims. The single gloss, ry, on 16v, may have been by the same scribe who wrote on 5r, although the hand is much neater and more upright. The descender of r is short, has a well-formed wedge, and a somewhat rectangular hook. Straight-limb dotted y was used, the right branch hooked left and the tail slightly curved. A marginal note, her, is found on 17r; it was almost certainly written by a different scribe again. The pen is again flat, but the strokes are smoother and much more rounded. The ascender of h is long and has a slight barb. Tall e was used with a slight horn and high but not especially bulging loop. The descender of r is short and the shoulder rounded and branching at cue-height. The two glosses on 28r, wes and norþ, were again written in a rough hand with flat pen and brown ink. Ascenders and descenders are again very short, and the bodies are large and somewhat rounded. Low s was used with a short hook, and r also has a short descender and somewhat angular shoulder, almost Caroline in form. The final gloss, unne on 30r, was almost certainly written by yet another scribe. The ink is dark, the pen very thin with no shading, and the strokes much more rounded and better formed than the main glossator. Round e has a thin horizontal tongue and is theta-shaped. Minims have short approach-strokes and usually lack feet. The shoulders of n are somewhat rounded.