| Click on button beside each word to indicate how it is abbreviated in the text. |
| This text is heavily abbreviated. As well as the nomina sacra terms, there are many generic abbreviations, such as a superscript horizontal slash indicating a missing m, a curling superscript mark for -us, a curling subscript mark on e to indicate that it represents ae, a slash through the descender of p to show that it represents per-, and or with a vertical slash for -orum. There are a couple of what might be called contractions of convenience, done in order to make the text fit neatly into the space provided. You will need to look at both pages of abbreviations to find them all. |
| Melissande Psalter (British Library, Egerton 1139, f.210), early 12th century. Images by permission of the British Library. |
|
| overview | decoration | text | alphabet | abbreviations | exercises | | transcript | translation | |
| Click on each of the above to walk your way through a segment of the text. The transcript will appear in a separate window so that you can use it for reference at any time. These exercises are designed to guide you through the text, not test you, so you can cheat as much as you like. |
 |
 Script sample for this example |
|
Index
of Exercises |
|
Index
of Scripts |
|
If you are looking at this page without frames, there is more information about medieval writing to be found by going to the home page (framed) or the site map (no frames). |
 |
