The nine elegies have all been edited separately between 1933 and 1983. Klinck builds on the extensive previous scholarship in the field and also draws on recently available materials - notably the microfiche Concordances, the first letters of the new Old English Dictionary, and Bruce Mitchell's Old English Syntax - to make new suggestions about problematic words and passages.

Going beyond an exploration of the literary potential of individual poems, Klinck examines them as separate manifestations of a common generic impulse: she moves from palaeographical and philological detail to broader literary and cultural considerations and, finally, to a definition of Old English elegy.

Anne L. Klinck has recently retired from the University of New Brunswick, where she taught medieval literature and English language. Her previous books include The Old English Elegies: A Critical Edition and Genre Study and An Anthology of Ancient and Medieval Woman's Song.

Anne L. Klinck's profile page

"An immense amount of very skillful, disciplined, and learned effort has gone into the production of this work. I was impressed by Klinck's down-to-earth, commonsense approach. She presents an honest, judicious, conservative, and thorough reconsideration of the editorial problems raised by a number of Old English texts. Canada has become a world centre for Old English studies. This book belongs to our contribution to an important field." John Tucker, Department of English, University of Victoria.
"Thorough and effective ... Klinck is unquestionably a specialist on this subject and knowledgeable about Anglo-Saxon literature in general. What she has produced could be described as an encyclopedia of the textual and critical work done on these poems. I find this work to be a sound, competent, highly informative contribution to scholarship." Martin Puhvel, Department of English, McGill University.