Editiones Arnamagnæanæ. Series A - 01.06.2003, Blaðsíða 124
82*
INTRODUCTION
III. Scribes and script.
Hand A writes fols. 1-4, 5-13vbl2 (first two words), 14-19rb21; Hand
B writes the remainder of 13vbl2 and continues to 13vb38, the end of
the column; C writes 19rb22, the start of Marthe saga ok Marie Mag-
dalene, and all the rest of the volume, including the texts in the frag-
ment AM 921 V 4to. The titles entered, often no more than ‘cpm’ or
‘capitulum’ in full, appear to be in one hand throughout, though with
occasional variation in letter-forms. On fol. 42v there are two chapter-
initials which show some ambition; otherwise the initials are general-
ly of modest size and in one plain style.
Fols. 1-19 vary in column length between 35 and 39 lines, the ma-
jority with 37; fols. 20-68 range between 35 and 39 lines, with fols.
39-44 all of 37 lines, 45-68 of 39; the increase in economy culminates
in the 921 V fragment with 41 lines to the column. Hand C generally
packs his lines tighter as his large part progresses.
Hand A has two-storey <a), the upper element often squashed. Tall
ascenders have a slight curl to the right at the tip. Round <d> is normal
but occasionally <ð) is made. On forms of <f>, <r> and <f> see p. 77*-
78* and n. 42 above. The letter <g> is made as <o> with a descender
which turns sharp left at the bottom, sometimes with a hairstroke from
its end back to the upper roundel, making the lower element triangular.
The right-hand element of <h> curls to the left below the line. The let-
ter <i> often has a diacritic accent; <j>, made with a loop from the bot-
tom that reaches almost to the top of the stave, is unmarked. The <2>-
like attachment to the right of the stave of <k) does not go below the
line. Occasional use is made of the <H>-like <n> for long n. The letter
<o> is completed in such a way, that a small tail is left at the bottom
right of the roundel. <j>, a <2>-like figure, is found after <a>, <b>, <d>,
<g>, <h>, <o>, <y> and <þ>; in abbreviated ‘hue/r’, the final letter is
sometimes written as ordinary <r>, sometimes as </>. Apart from use at
the beginning of a sentence, round <s) is found only in association
with superscript abbreviation marks. Both <u> and <v> are found for
vowel and sonant on fols. 3-4 but only <u> is used thereafter. <y> is like
printed <y>; it is not dotted. <é> is usual for æ, but <e> and <§> also oc-
cur; <æ> itself is extremely rare. Modified <o> for older p/0 has the
same sort of circumflex accent. For punctuation a point on or above
the line is used and <//> occasionally accompanies it or stands alone as
a divider; a capital is sometimes written after such a stop.