Hand: Continuous Glossator (155r–56r), BL Cotton Vespasian A.i

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

This neat hand is unusually rotund for a gloss, with the proportions reflecting the mid-century script and most probably also influenced by Eadwig’s hand in the main text. Ascenders are long and have wedges which are usually prominent and can be slightly trailing or can have long straight top-strokes. Descenders are about equal to or longer than minims and are straight. The minims themselves are straight and fairly upright, with large prominent wedges and quite long horizontal feet. Single-compartment a was used throughout, with the shape either of a fairly round teardrop or a more horizontally symmetric ‘ci’ appearance. The body of æ is also rotund and is usually bilinear, with the ‘ci’ form of a and a squinting eye; the tongue is horizontal, and a tall but narrow ligature is found most often before g or t. The back of d is short and usually angled at about 45°, although bilinear d is also found, sometimes with a turned-up tip. Round e is found, but a long rounded approach-stroke was also used which can extend back to the shoulder of the preceding letter. Both forms of e also show rounded hooks, squinting eyes, long rising tongues, and fairly vertical backs. The tongue of f is flat and thin, and the hook and tongue are usually short, although the tongue can be long. The mid-section of g is relatively open and rounded, the top is flat and long, and the tail is closed in an oblong. The shoulders of h, m, and n are fairly rounded, and the minims vertical. Long s is found most often, although low s is also found, particularly in -ss-, and the hook of long s can turn down to meet a following t in a false ligature much like that found in the Exeter Book, G.257 (swa, 156r2). The descender of þ is often very short. The back of ð is long, angled at about 45°, and straight but often curved or hooked down slightly at the tip; the through-stroke barely passes through the back and is hooked down on the right. Straight-limbed dotted y is found, the right branch of which is hooked left, the left branch less steep than the right, and the tail sometimes turned slightly up at the tip. The top of 7 is hooked up on the left, and the down-stroke starts slightly above the top-stroke.