The i-hooks and the tail coverage

[-JKP-]

If you look at the image below, which shows a selection of the text from f38r, it's clear that there's a pen problem.



On every line there is a glyph with a stroke which transitions suddenly from light to dark ink. Note kain in the last line where the loop of k goes dark when it reaches vertically upward and then light again when it reaches vertically downward. The n in the same word also goes dark when it reaches the same point vertically upward.

Good example, Emma.


Where the three tails go up and to the left, it is darker, and there is "pen stutter" on the bottom two. This scribe was probably right-handed and probably was slowing down when drawing strokes that go in the "contrary" direction (contrary to what is comfortable for that person's hand and for the angle he or she was holding the quill). If the scribe is not comfortable going in the contrary direction, it also results in blobs, parts that get filled in.

There are a lot of indications that the VMS was not written by high-level scribes. This is one of them.