Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1979, Page 136

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has a tongue in the upper right hånd “corner” in D and consistently
lacks it in B.
Long s, which is used with one exception (Jjesa 1. 25) in this hånd,
invariably extends below the line; this is uncommon in B.
Insular v is used for both consonantal and vocalic u in these two lines;
it occurs nowhere else in this MS.: 1. 24 -1 vm, lvtum, miscvnn, avallt; 1. 25
verk, villdi, hvg. Only the second u in lvtum 1. 24 is an exception to this
rule; in B also one would expect minuscule v not u here.
To avoid the confusion with v which would result if he used a y like
that of B (e.g. heyrfæ lr21), D curves the stem of the descender of the y
(fyr 1. 25) besides using the superscript dot.
The z employed by D looks more like x than like the z used by B:
mannz, fyr faraz 1. 25.
hann is abbreviated to hann 1. 25.
Both til and eigi are written in full in their single occurrences.
The two lines lack the fine diagonal strokes from ascenders which give
hånd B such a characteristic appearance.
Unlike B, D uses the nasal stroke over a preceding n: miscvnn, sinnar
1. 24, hann, mannz 1. 25.
The Tironian nota is crossed in its one occurrence.
2. The sample is too small to construct a vowel system but one notes
the absence of the accent mark, and of the combination of accent and
subscript hook.
f> stands for the dental spirant in its one occurrence initially. Medially
and finally d appears twice: godgiarnan 1. 25, god 1. 24. The examples
are really too few to suggest a distributional pattern, but such as it is, it
differs from B.
Before /, h is lost: lvtum 1. 24. In B it is retained.
3. The suffix -leg- is spelt with an i in its one occurrence: macliga 1. 24.
Finally, then, it is difficult with so short a sample to delineate with
certainty an orthographic system that may be contrasted with that of
hånd B to establish the distinction between the two hånds. Conversely,
however, it might be remarked as unusual that in its brief appearance
hånd D should offer so many examples of divergences from hånd B.
To conclude this description of the various hånds of AM 655 4to X, I
would like to underline the following point: the anomalies that argue for