The author of "The Wife's Lament" is unknown. It is one of the literary works contained in the Exeter Book, a collection of poems written in Old English and one of the few manuscripts that have survived from the Anglo-Saxon period. Two of the poems in the Exeter book are attributed to a poet named Cynewulf, but no other authors are mentioned for the other poems. Scholars can tell that one person compiled the poems in the Exeter Book, but this person almost certainly served as just a scribe, not the author.

In the Anglo-Saxon period (ad 449–1066), books were all copied and illustrated by hand, one by one. Monks played an important role in preserving the literature of this period by laboriously copying books by hand and housing them in their monasteries. Despite the work of scribes like the one who copied the Exeter Book, much of this literature has been lost. Invasions, war, disasters, and the passing of time have destroyed all but a few of the manuscripts of this period.

"The Wife's Lament" is unusual for its day. It was one of the very few Anglo-Saxon poems to explore a woman's point of view. Another such poem is "Wulf and Eadwacer" (see Selections for Additional Reading on page 144).