12 Days of Wordlady: Lords a-leaping

The Anglo-Saxons, living as they did in pre-glutenophobic times, were apparently obsessed with bread (or hláf as it was known back then, the ancestor of "loaf").

We have already seen that "dairy" came from a word meaning "kneader" and that "lady" came from a compound meaning "bread kneader" (hláfdige). 

The origin of "lord" was hláfweard (bread keeper). As usual, the women were doing all the work. Who was the hláfweard / lord (we've obviously lost a few consonants along the way) keeping his bread for (or from)? Why, the voracious servants, of course, known in Old English as hláf-ǽta, literally a ‘bread-eater’. This word has not survived.

I don't have ten lords a-leaping for you, but here's (quelle surprise!) one ballet dancer a-leaping, pretty darn nicely (and turning too): Josua Hoffalt of Paris Opera Ballet:

http://youtu.be/X2whiPYdcS8

If you love ballet, please check out my season of outstanding ballet trips by clicking here.

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For why I'm not the Word Wench:
http://katherinebarber.blogspot.ca/2014/12/12-days-of-wordlady-nine-ladies-dancing.html

For why milkmaids work in a dairy rather than a milkery:
http://katherinebarber.blogspot.ca/2014/12/12-days-of-wordlady-8-maids-milking.html

For what swans have to do with singing, click here: 
http://katherinebarber.blogspot.ca/2014/12/12-days-of-wordlady-swans-swimming.html

Why we don't say "gooses" and "gooselings: 
http://katherinebarber.blogspot.ca/2014/12/12-days-of-wordlady-geese-laying.html


For why we don't say "fiveth", "fiveteen", and "fivety", click here: 
http://katherinebarber.blogspot.ca/2014/12/12-days-of-wordlady-fifth-day.html  

For why it was OK to call the Virgin Mary a "bird", click here: 
http://katherinebarber.blogspot.ca/2014/12/12-days-of-wordlady-calling-birds.html

For what French hens have to do with syphilis, click here: 
http://katherinebarber.blogspot.ca/2014/12/12-days-of-wordlady-french-hens.html

For turtle-doves, click here: http://katherinebarber.blogspot.ca/2014/12/12-days-of-wordlady-turtle-doves.html

For what partridges have to do with farting, click here:
http://katherinebarber.blogspot.ca/2013/12/12-days-of-wordlady-partridge.html