Bæddel and bædling are Old English terms referring to non-normative sexual or gender categories. Occurring in a small number of medieval glossaries and penitentials (guides for religious penance), the exact meaning of the terms (and their distinction, if any) are debated by scholars. Both terms are often connected to effeminacy and adultery. Bæddel is glossed as 'hermaphrodite' and a 'man of both sexes' in its two extant glosses, while bædling is often glossed with terms associated with effeminacy and softness. The Oxford English Dictionary supports bæddel as the etymological root of the English adjective bad, although scholars propose alternative origins, including a shared root with both bæddel and bædling. The term bædlings may have included people assigned female at birth who took on masculine social roles or referred to intersex people. Scholars suggest that bædlings could represent a third gender outside the gender binary or a form of gender nonconformity in Anglo-Saxon society. (Full article...)
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