Until the end of the nineteenth century, the true identification of Ælfric had been problematic, primarily because Ælfric had often been confused with Ælfric of Abingdon, who served as Archbishop of Canterbury.
Until hand-held guns were invented, sport hunting was largely for the deer or wild boar (by hounds or bow-and-arrow, but Ælfric of Eynsham's Colloquium written in Anglo-Saxon times speaks of the usual way to catch deer being to drive them into a net), or hare (by a fast dog); the Colloquium mentions two stags and a wild boar as a typical day's catch.
Eynsham | Ælfric of Eynsham | Ælfric | Walter d'Eynsham | Eynsham Hall | Ælfric of Abingdon |
Others have suggested that the Æthelmær is the well-known patron of Ælfric, who founded the abbey at Eynsham in 1005, but offer no identification of the other two names.