Hand: Glossaries and Charm (57rv; 54v), Bodleian Barlow 35 (6467)

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

The Latin charm on 54v has a heading in Old English which was probably written by the same scribe as the Latin-Old English glossary on 57rv. This material may also have been written by the same scribe as the scribble on 6r, and this scribble seems to be a continuation of the same glossary. The hand is quite heavy and very dark. It is quite laterally compressed on 57r, but this is probably because the scribe was here trying to conform to pre-existing columns. Ascenders are long, straight, and have wedges, and descenders are also long and straight. Minims have approach-strokes or wedges and have horizontal feet. The top of a is straight but rising, and both sides are fairly straight but angle slightly to the right. Teardrop and Caroline a are also found occasionally. The same straight top was used for æ, the tongue of which is straight and rising. The hook of æ is rounded and always rises slightly above cue-height, but it forms a tall, bulging, and slightly open loop in ligature with follwing letters. The back of c can be horned or can have an angular lower stroke and be simply pointed. The back of d is long on 54v but shorter in the glossaries; it is consistently straight and angled at about 45°. Round and horned e are both found, and the tongue and hook are like those of æ, including the tall ligature; tall e is also found in ligature with o. The tongue of f is flat and the hook branches from close to the base-line. The top of g is flat and can be hooked up slightly on the left; the mid-section hangs from left of the centre, bulges slightly to the left, and then extends well to the left before turning back in a wide closed loop. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are all somewhat rounded. Low, tall, and round s were all used with little distinction, long s even being used finally and sometimes in ligature with following t. The back of ð is long and is usually slightly concave down but can be slightly concave up; the through-stroke is long and can be hooked up on the left, or down on the right, or both. The first, left-right stroke of x curves towards the horizontal at each end, and the right-left stroke is hooked left on the right and is long and straight at the tip. Straight-limbed dotted y is normal, the tail straight and the right branch hooked left, although round dotted y is sometimes found. Latin is not distinguished by script.