Hand: Continuous Gloss, Lambeth 427, fols. 1–202

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

This continuous gloss was written with a thin pen in a small and somewhat irregular script. Ascenders are slightly longer than minims, are straight, and can have barbs, small wedges, or large blobby wedges. Descenders are straight, often angled slightly left, and of comparable length to ascenders. Minims are usually straight and forward-leaning, with approach-strokes and rising feet. Although the structure of a is more or less consistent, it was was written somewhat carelessly and so the result varies from Caroline to teardrop-shaped. The a-component of æ is more rounded and closer to the ci shape, although the top is still formed by a hook in the same stroke as the back; the letter was completed with an angular hook and a long horizontal tongue. Round c was used throughout with a flat hook, and the back of d is usually straight, fairly long, and angled between the horizontal and about 30°, although it can be longer, steeper, and vertical-tipped much like ð. The back of e is usually fairly straight and can have a small horn; the tongue is long and straight, and the hook small. The tongue of f is long, flat, and relatively thick, and the hook angular. The top of g is relatively short and often slightly below cue-height, the mid-section is small and hangs from approximately in the centre, then curves out to the left, and the tail swings back in an open hook with a slight upward turn at the tip. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r all tend to rise from below cue-height and then turn down or slightly back to the left; m and n can be more rounded and r more angular than usual. Low s was used throughout, with a flat stroke at cue-height turning down in an angular hook. The scribe seems to have experienced some difficulty in the distinction between þ and ð: he seems to have preferred þ, but has periods where the conventional distinction was maintained (so on 122r, singaþ, swyþran, cuþne, but then eorðan, eorðe, singað, fægniaþ, cweðaþ). The back of ð is long, fairly thin, and curves up at the tip, and the through-stroke is hooked down on the right. Straight-limbed dotted y was used throughout. The top of 7 is hooked up on the left and rises to the right, and the descender is close to vertical. Ker noted that additions and corrections to the gloss ‘may’ be in the same hand.Ker, Catalogue, p. 343 (no. 280) This does indeed seem to be the case as the additions are indistinguishable by letter-form and seem to be very much the same as the main glossing-hand.