Hogeled ~ The Medieval Version of a ‘Hot Mess’

You see them every where. You, like I, may on occasion have been guilty of dressing like a hot mess. Believe me, I, and I suspect most of us, don’t do it on purpose. People who dress, carelessly (to put it politely) have existed since time immemorial. I reacenlty found a Middle English word that I think perfectly describes this mode of attire. The word is Hogelyd. As in this example from the Margery Kempe B manuscript. “The good powr man, hogelyd in his clothys, un-sperd and un-botened, cam to the dor to wetyn hir wille.”

This statement becomes, roughly, in Modern English, “The good poor man, huddled in his unbuttoned clothes, came to the door to await their will.” Picture a poor man with messy clothing, huddled near a doorway awaiting the will of those within. Would they grant him his request–whether to give food, housing or clothing? The suspense for the person kept waiting is filled with tension and doubt. How often have you been in a similar situation, making a request with no way of knowing what the response will be? Did you physically ‘huddle’ as you waited, or did you stand upright and unfearful? Would you have behaved differently if you had been poorly dressed or groomed? Perhaps it wouldn’t have made a difference. There is another sense for hogelyd given in the Middle English Dictionary. That sense is ‘to hug.” How might the meaning of the quote change if we use ‘hug’ rather than ‘huddle’ in translation. “…The good poor man, hugged in his unbuttoned clothes”. The end result of waiting an unknown response is the same, but it does perhaps make more sense that a person might hug his unbuttoned clothes around himself rather than letting them hang, leaving his body exposed. This shows the man preparing himself as best he could with inadequate clothing to face the response of those on the other side of the door. Metaphorically, ‘hug’ implies he might hope for the same sort of kindess, i.e. hugs from others. If carried further the metaphor is to prepare for a more enjoyable experience than he may have had in the past.

Leave a comment and tell me what you think. Could we use a bettr word for “hotmess”?