Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Exeter Book sits in the library of Exeter Cathedral today, a physical object that has survived since 1076. This manuscript contains approximately one-sixth of all surviving Old English poetry and holds the poem Widsith on pages 84v through 87r.
The text was compiled during the late-10th century by scribes working within the cathedral grounds. Before its donation to the cathedral, the book traveled through various hands over nearly four centuries.
Archaeologist Lotte Hedeager suggests part of the work dates back to the 6th century Migration Age. She points to details about regions outside Britain like Denmark and the Baltic coast as evidence of early knowledge.
A specific phrase within the poem refers to a group called the Wicinga cynn appearing on lines 47, 59, and 80. Scholars believe this may represent the earliest written mention of the word Viking in any surviving text.
Deor appears alongside Widsith in the Exeter Book drawing on similar material and themes. Both poems use first-person address to insert themselves into a legendary world populated by figures like Wayland the Smith.