Devastated survivors may have been willing to surrender their independence and submit to the rule of others if that was the only way of guaranteeing their sustenance. (The word ‘lord’ derives from the Old English hlaford, meaning ‘loaf-guardian’, or ‘bread-giver’.) Amid all the death, violence and chaos, there must have been a few individuals who emerged as winners, and were able to turn the desperation of others to their own advantage.20
