There has been much argument about the date of the poem and the context in which it was composed. While most critics have taken the view that the poem was composed within just a few years of the battle itself, and perhaps even commissioned by Byrhtnoth's widow or by the monks of Ely where he was buried, it has been strongly argued that various features of the language, and particularly the use of eorl in its Norse sense as a title (instead of the Old English sense of 'warrior'), point to a later date, after the Danish king Cnut (Canute) became established as king of England in 1016. Such a poem might then have expressed defiance of Danish rule during Cnut's reign, or celebration after the restoration of the Anglo-Saxon dynasty with Edward the Confessor in 1042. It might even have been composed after the Norman Conquest and so reflect on the dominance of the descendants of the Vikings. The review of the question by Scragg (1993, pp. 25-8) comes down strongly in favour of an early date, close to 991 and before, as James Campbell puts it, 'the full seriousness of the new wave of Viking invasions was apparent'.
Professor Malcolm Godden