coherent graphic system invented by a creative individual? most likely St. Cyril- Constantine the Philosopher (827-869), though opinions on the way he did it. It is important to reconstruct the oldest line system in order to establish the oldest type of the Glagolitic alphabet and its origin. Most scholars consider the tenth-twelfth century Glagolitic sources to have all been written in different line systems or even without rules. Vjekoslav Štefanić emphasized the need to understand this phenomenon, stating that, once defined, the line system would enable scholars to differentiate between varieties of Glagolitic script' and Hamm stressed the importance of identifying the oldest line system in order to date sources.'! Glagolitic paleographers have been aware that the two-line system is not the first writing system. According to Menhart the two-line system had to be a secondary phenomenon; otherwise, "how to understand the attitude of scribes who stopped using ihe original two-line base?"!? Štefanić says that "over rime the Glagolitic becomes a two-line script",'* and Fučić thinks that the original Glagolitic seript could not fit between two lines because of the different size and position of its characters.'“ Although the three agree that the two-line system represents Glagolitic seript's second developmentary phase, their thoughts about the first vary. They do not illustrate their opinions. Although considered the oldest by the majority of scholars, KF is the third in Thorvi Eckhardt's chronological order since, according to her, the oldest characters were “unlikely to have been originally created hanging".'* We do not know all the sources, and therefore should keep in mind that KF is the oldest among extant sources but not necessarily the oldest overall. Štefanić was more cautious on this point. He stated that the oldest sources have characters hanging on the upper line'“ without calling this the oldest line system. He describes different character sizes in KF as rustic without defining what rustic means - probably lack of skill or knowledge in stretching characters between two lines proportionately. The tenth-twelfth century Glagolitic Biblical and liturgical texts, however, are neatly written. Different character size and position, therefore, cannot be the result of the scribe's ignorance or negligence.'" Eckhardt says that the KF script is clear, well laid out, readable and neat.'' I will demonstrate that scribes were had an above average education and that there is a reason behind this difference in character size and position. 'Thorvy Eckhardt supposes that two-line system is the oldest and therefore ZG and AG (Fig.1.1 and 1.2 respectively) are therefore older than KF (Fig. 1.3) only because they . Hekhardt 1955, Kiparsky 1964, Auty 1971, ličev 1980, Yonchev, Yoncheva 1982, Yonchev 1997, Čunčić 1985, Čunčić 1995-96. 19 Štefanić 1960 23. * Hamm 1952, 42. '? Menhart 1956, 199 (italics is mine). 13 Štefanić 1958/59, 26 (italics is mine). )4 Fučić 1982. 7. 15 Eckhardt 1955, 77-78. Menhart has suggested that Professor Eckhard should have taken linguistic issues into consideration when explaining why KF is the oldest; cf. Menhart 1956, 198-199. 1* Štefanić 1958/59, 26. 17 Žagar describes the old Glagolitic system of writing as uncoordinated, unarranged, inconsistent, “unordered and very untidy" thus implying that scribes were negligent or uneducated. Žagar 2000, 137. 18 Eckhardt 1955, 76. 286