Hand: Main Hand, CCCC 162, pp. 1–138, 161–564

Name: Main Hand
Manuscript: CCCC 162, pp. 1–138, 161–564
Script: Unspecified
Scribe: Unspecified
Date: Saec. x ex. or xi in.
Place: SE England

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

The script is quite angular, somewhat shaded, and sometimes backwards-leaning, with a fairly consistent cue-height. Ascenders are about as long as minims and taper with a slight fork at the top; descenders are also tapering. Minims are straight with relatively large wedges and feet. The top of a was consistently written with a separate stroke but the resultant letter can be flat-topped with an angled south-west quadrant or rotund; horned a is also found, though infrequently. The same construction was used for æ, the tongue of which can be horizontal or rising. Wide low ligature were used with æ or e and a following g or t. Round c and horned e are found throughout, the hook and tongue of e like those of æ, although the lower curve of e can reach up to meet the tongue beyond the hook when in final position. Round d is found throughout, the back rising slightly above cue-height and angled at approximately 10–15°. The tongue of f is long, straight, and on the base-line. The tail of g is closed: it can be quite small and on the left or can be larger and more centred; the mid-section tends to bulge to the left, often hangs from the left of the top-stroke, and can be more or less angled. The shoulders of h, m, n, and r are normally quite rounded and bulging, and the end of r turns sharply into a horizontal finishing-stroke. Low s appears most frequently, but tall s is found before t, and a horizontally-stretched round s was used to fill out the line (hys page 125/2). Low s+s ligature is found throughout. The back of ð is long, fairly thick, fairly straight, and angled at about 30–40°; the through-stroke is thin, straight, and can end with a downward tick, a more gradual curve, or just a slight thickening of the stroke. In initial position þ is far more common than ð, but ð is always found medially or finally, even at the start of syllables and compounds. The north-east branch of x sits slightly below cue-height and is hooked left, the south-west branch is long and hooked right. Straight y was used throughout, sometimes dotted; the left branch is curved, the right branch shows a small approach-stroke at the top, and the tail is often hooked slightly at the bottom. The two horizontal strokes of z are ~-shaped and at cue-height and base-line respectively, and the diagonal is thin, extends below the base-line, and is hooked right. The top of 7 is flat, horizontal, and at cue-height, and the descender is straight and vertical. Latin was carefully distinguished by script.