Their authorship is unknown, though Wilhelm von Giesebrecht suggested that Arno of Salzburg was the author of an early section surviving in the copy at Lorsch Abbey.

[1] The depth of knowledge regarding court affairs suggests that the annals were written by persons close to the king, and their initial reluctance to comment on Frankish defeats betrays an official design for use as Carolingian propaganda.

[2] Though the information contained within is heavily influenced by authorial intent in favor of the Franks, the annals remain a crucial source on the political and military history of the reign of Charlemagne.

The annals give a brief individual description of events for each year (a few omitted), with a focus on the actions of the Carolingian monarchy, beginning with the account of Pepin the Short's ascension through the dethronement of the Merovingian king Childeric III.

The overthrow of the Merovingians is also portrayed in such a way as to legitimize the transfer of royal power between dynasties, emphasizing Carolingian adherence to Frankish traditions and the approval of Pope Zacharias in the matter.

Its destruction is a major point in the annals, written to continue a jingoistic theme of Frankish triumphs against the “un-Frankish” and unchristian barbarian.

The revised text, however, incorporates these events while maintaining a positive tone towards the emperor, presented as a peerless leader in battle.

Charlemagne's son, Louis the Pious, is rarely shown engaging in battle by the annalists, but rather directs others to do so, or negotiates for peace.

[6] Miracles aid Charlemagne and his men, and the grace of God leads him to victory; mostly ill portents surround Louis, such as an omen in the stars supposedly foretelling his army's defeat at the hands of Count Aizo, and the sudden collapse of a wooden arcade atop him in 817.

In addition to astronomical oddities, such as eclipses, the supernatural begins to enter the account, set against almost ritualistic yearly notices of the regular passages of Christmas and Easter.

[7] Many of the worse omens also parallel growing dissatisfaction with Louis the Pious, which immediately after the end of the annals spilled into civil war between him and his sons.

The gift of the elephant to Charlemagne, amongst other treasures, by Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid is evidence of the attempts to form an Abbasid-Carolingian alliance at the time, which the annals document loosely.

They are as follows: Class A texts end at the year 788, and are reflected in one of the earliest modern printings of the annals, that of Heinrich Canisius's Francicorum Annalium fragmentum.

[15] The revised editions correct the Latin of the originals and elaborate on many of the earlier entries, which were written by a terse hand in their unedited states.

Considering this and the fact that the subject matter remains fixed on the actions of Charlemagne, composition by members of the royal chapel again seems likely, as few other groups would have had access to the same information.

His increasing distaste for Louis would also correspond with the veiled negativity towards the emperor which surfaces in the later entries of the annal, in the form of faint praise and the recording of omens and disasters.