Description

Bæddel and bædling are Old English (Anglo-Saxon) terms theorised to refer to non-normative sexual or gender categories. They occur in only five medieval glossaries and penitentials. Scholars debate their exact meanings, but both are linked to effeminacy and adultery. Bæddel appears in one glossary, where it glosses "hermaphrodite" and a "man of both sexes", while bædling glosses an "effeminate" or "soft" person. The Oxford English Dictionary states that bæddel may be related to the English adjective "bad"; scholars have proposed that the word may share a root with both bæddel and bædling.