hlaford

Noun

hlaford (plural hlafords)

1. An Anglo-Saxon lord.
   • The King was considered as the hlaford of the nation; and in consequence of that supposition, the security given to inferior hlafords against their particular retainers was in his case extended to all his subjects.1830, John Allen, “Tardy Growth of Many of the Royal Prerogatives”, in Inquiry into the Rise and Growth of the Royal Prerogative in England, London: […] Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, […]...
   • The Eorls constituted the nobility of the land, and were subdivided into two orders, the Hlafords or land-owners, and the Sithcundmen, who were nobles by birth, but less wealthy than the hlafords. To this class, too, belonged the Thanes, who originally were those to whom land was granted, as a...1866, William C. Pearce, Samuel Hague, “Saxon and Danish Period”, in Analysis of English History. A Text-Book for Colleges and Schools., London: Thos. Murby, […], pages 18–19