Loaf and ward help uncover the bread keeper inside lord.
Old English hlāford compresses components for bread and a keeper. The title referred to a household's powerful head; it was not simply a job guarding food. Later spellings shed sounds until lord concealed most of that construction.
Sources
- Merriam-Webster: lord
Word History gives hlāf, weard and loverd; Kids Word Origin explains the household role.
- Online Etymology Dictionary: loaf
Loaf is from Old English hlāf, which is also disguised in lord.