[2] It was written by a poet of the Frankish Kingdom for or shortly after the assembly held by Charlemagne at Paderborn in Saxony in that year.
[4] Karl Hauck argued that it was written by Lullus, an attribution accepted by Donald Bullough[5] and James Palmer.
[6] Dieter Schaller argues for Paulinus of Aquileia on the basis of internal linguistic evidence and is followed by Robert Flierman.
Some of its imagery is derived from Virgil's Aeneid, as when Hell is described as the "sand of Cocytus" or "jaws of Celydrus", but mostly from the Bible.
[12] The poet supplies the date: Now about seven hundred completed years And seven times ten, unless I err, besides seven left over, As the calculator index of the ancients hands down Are present by the flowing away of the time of the present year And in that year Charles is reigning happily for his ninth ...[13] A description of the paganism of the Saxons: A nation which long ago was placing filthy gifts at polluted temples Consumed with quick flames, pyre-like; Duly was slaughtering bulls at bloodied altars, And, by suppliantly bending necks, venerating the abominable cults Of demons, and princes, gods, penates;[14] The celebration of Charlemagne's triumph: This [Saxon] nation Charles the prince, bravely girded With shining arms, crested with pointed helmets, Helped by the wonderful strength of the eternal judge, He tamed through different destructions, through a thousand triumphs; And through blood-bearing shields, through spears of war, Through the strength of virtues, through javelins smeared with gore He crushed down and subjected it to himself with a shimmering sword.