The unfinished double glosses in Durham Cathedral Library, MS A.iv.19

Abstract

Incomplete multiple glosses are a prominent feature of Aldred’s glossing practice in the Lindisfarne Gospels (Cotton MS Nero D IV). In his later gloss, that to Durham Cathedral Library, MS A.iv.19, incomplete double glosses are predominant. Their raison d´être is unclear. This paper addresses the range of functions represented by vel (‘or’) in Durham Cathedral Library, MS A.iv.19. It is argued that the appended vel of incomplete glosses may carry a vel potius (‘or rather’) value thereby alerting readers to the provisional character of the gloss. Inspection of the manuscript reveals that in many instances insufficient space has been allowed for any second gloss. Incomplete glosses must also be considered in the context of how the same lemmata are glossed elsewhere in the manuscript.