ABSTRACT
The whole subject of these lyrical poems is full of difficulties. We have the poems, but we know nothing, and we have no means of finding out anything, about the poets or the circumstances of their lives. From our knowledge of Old English literature it seems unlikely, in spite of the form in which some are cast, that they are autobiographical, as has been suggested, and still less likely is it that the writers were treating purely imaginary and independent situations. The more general view now is that most, at any rate, do deal with epic characters and situations well known at the time, though not so obvious to-day, but scholars differ greatly in the associations they suggest for them. In Deor's Lament the only obscure allusions are those to MæÞhild and the Mærings, but though the other personages are known, their stories may not be so familiar to readers to-day as they were to an audience of that time.
