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P in Old English Letters

By Maya Chen, lettering designer and type educator · Checked by Jordan Hale · · How we review content

Capital P
Lowercase p

Rendered in the UnifrakturMaguntia typeface, an open-source font. It is a reference shape, not a hand-drawn letter.

P is made from a stem and a bowl, and in blackletter that bowl is angular and squeezed. The capital has a heavy stem and a single bowl that closes with a hairline at the top, while the lowercase p has a descender that drops below the line and a small bowl attached to it. Most trouble comes from bowls that do not close cleanly.

Outline version to colour or trace

Open in the Old English text generator →

How to draw a Old English capital P

  1. 1Draw the thick stem with the pen at about 45 degrees, from a diamond head to a diamond foot.
  2. 2Add the bowl as two angled strokes that leave the stem near the top, curve out and return to it at the middle.
  3. 3Close the bowl with a thin hairline joining the stem, and make the bowl slightly narrower than the stem is tall.
  4. 4Finish with a small flick at the top left and a short diamond foot on the stem, making sure it stands level with the other capitals.

Tip: Stop the bowl's lower arc just above the middle of the stem. If it reaches the middle or lower, the P turns into a clumsy B with the lower bowl missing.

How to draw a Old English lowercase p

  1. 1Pull a long downstroke from the x-height to below the baseline, giving it a small diamond head at the top.
  2. 2Draw the bowl as two angled strokes from the stem, closing at the baseline.
  3. 3Finish the descender with a flat cut or small foot, in line with the descenders of g and y.
  4. 4Check that the bowl touches the stem without a gap, and that its counter is a clear white shape.

Tip: Mark a descender line a full x-height below the baseline. Bringing every descender to the same depth keeps the line from looking ragged.

What makes P awkward or easy

The P is awkward because the bowl has to close against the stem, and any gap makes it look unfinished. The lowercase also descends, so it needs line spacing that does not collide with the ascenders in the line below.

Variations

Textura p tends to have a compact, angular bowl with a flat-cut descender, while Fraktur p can have a slightly rounder bowl. Capital P forms vary between a plain bowl and an ornate hooked one, so use a specimen for a specific style.

Common mistakes with Old English P

  • The bowl does not meet the stem.

    Draw the bowl strokes into the stem and finish with a short hairline so the join is clean.

  • The capital P looks like R because of a stray leg.

    Keep the bowl closed and avoid adding any stroke below it, so it does not look like a leg.

  • The descender is shorter than that of g and y.

    Rule a descender line and end each tail on it, so they look like a consistent set.

Ideas for Old English P

P suits names like Penelope, Phillip or Priya, and for mastheads such as The Pioneer. A heavy P pairs well with a plain stem letter like L for a monogram, and a lowercase p gives a word in a tattoo a vertical anchor below the line.

Printable Old English P sheet

Trace the outlines, then fill the empty rows with your own letters.

Old English letter P p Name: ____________________ · coolletteringgenerator.com

Old English P you can copy and paste

Both the capital P and the lowercase p have normal mathematical Fraktur forms. Fraktur: 𝔓 (U+1D513) and 𝔭 (U+1D52D). Bold Fraktur: 𝕻 (U+1D57B) and 𝖕 (U+1D595).

Old English P: questions

How do I stop my P looking like an R?
Close the bowl well above the middle of the stem and avoid adding a leg. The R has a diagonal tail, which makes it a distinct shape. Check the letter at reduced size to see which one it reads as.
Does the lowercase p need space below?
Yes. The descender drops below the baseline, so leave extra line spacing to keep it clear of the next line's ascenders. A good rule is to give the descender about one x-height of free space. For a short name on a card, a capital P avoids the issue entirely.
Should the bowl of the p be round?
No. Draw it from angled facets to match the rest of the alphabet. A round bowl is a feature of Roman or italic letters and looks out of place beside blackletter's pointed forms. Look at the bowl against the stem at arm's length, where any round shape will stand out.

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