This chapter and the following explore aspects of the making of the Anglo- Saxon Chronicle common stock, that is those annals substantially shared by all versions up to c.892. Many elements of the earliest stage of the writing and compilation of the annals remain obscure. The authors and their location(s) are unknown, and their sources only partially defined. The common stock ends c.892 and probably entered into circulation at about this time or soon after. These vernacular annals align in various ways with the Alfredian cultural and political project of the 880s and 890s, and some annals of these decades suggest court connections. Plummer believed in King Alfred's hands-on involvement in the creation of the Chronicle: ‘the idea was carried out under his direction and supervision, this I do most firmly believe’. There is, however, no evidence for Alfred's direct or even indirect involvement. Plummer's belief was challenged by Sir Frank Stenton, and most critics now employ caution concerning the connection between Alfred and the making of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The creators of the common stock annals were as much compilers as they were authors, drawing on a range of sources for historically remote events, as well as authoring new annals for more recent times. This chapter surveys the evidence available from the Chronicle itself for the common stock annals’ authorship, the sources used and the decision to shape the Chronicle as a continuously numbered sequence or years from AD 1.