In his introduction Alfred explains that he gathered together the laws he found in many "synod-books" and "ordered to be written many of the ones that our forefathers observed—those that pleased me; and many of the ones that did not please me, I rejected with the advice of my councillors, and commanded them to be observed in a different way".
Trong phần giới thiệu của mình, Alfred giải thích rằng ông đã tập hợp lại với nhau các luật ông tìm thấy trong rất nhiều "sách của hội nghị tôn giáo" và "ordered to be written many of the ones that our forefathers observed—those that pleased me; and many of the ones that did not please me, I rejected with the advice of my councillors, and commanded them to be observed in a different way."