Farfarello appears as one of the Malebranche in Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, specifically connected to Cantos XXI–XXIII of Inferno, where the Malebranche are the demons who guard Bolgia Five of the Eighth Circle (Malebolge). In that literary context Farfarello functions as one member of a collective of infernal custodians charged with enforcing punishments upon a particular class of sinners (barrators).
Primary source summaries emphasize the Malebranche's collective demeanor as 'vulgar and quarrelsome' but do not provide a detailed individual physical description of Farfarello. The supplied materials therefore attest to temperament and role rather than distinct corporeal features for this named demon.
In Dante's portrayal the Malebranche (including Farfarello) act as enforcers: their duty in Bolgia Five is to force corrupt politicians (barrators) to remain under the surface of a boiling lake of pitch. This indicates coercive, custodial behavior and a readiness to engage aggressively; the group is characterized as quarrelsome and vulgar. Separately, in modern popular verse the name Farfarello is used as a threatening figure invoked by adults to make children obey, indicating cultural usage of the name as a disciplinary bogey-figure.
Admeto (Admetus)
Admeto is the legendary King of Thessaly from classical myth as transmitted into European opera (notably Handel's Admeto, HWV 22). Portrayed as a mortal tragic protagonist, his fate in the narrative is determined by divine oracular decree and by the actions of other mythic figures (Alceste, Apollo, Hercules) rather than by any innate supernatural power.
Aggi and Ebbi (lexical occurrences)
Aggi and Ebbi are not attested as folkloric beings in the supplied sources; they appear only as isolated word-forms in an Italian poetic excerpt and as capitalized letter-strings in a puzzle/solution transcript. No mythic identity, powers, or rituals are documented for these tokens in the provided materials.
Agolant
Agolant is a literary Saracen king who appears as a recurring antagonist in medieval and Renaissance epic cycles (Matter of France). He functions as a human royal opponent to Charlemagne and his peers, supplying martial episodes, genealogical connections, and the transfer of legendary arms and horses in chansons de geste and later Italian romances.
Akenta
Akenta is attested in the provided sources only as a proper name appearing in several unrelated contexts (a listing of South Australian groups, commercial wine branding, a health company, and a parliamentary text). The sources do not describe Akenta as a supernatural being, and no mythic attributes, appearance, powers, or rituals are recorded.
Alazṓn
Alazṓn (Ancient Greek: ἀλαζών) is a theatrical stock character of ancient Greek comedy who functions as an impostor or braggart: a figure who overestimates and theatrically misrepresents his own qualities and social status. As an archetype he generates comic situations, serves as the opponent of the eirôn, and recurs across Greek and Roman comedy, commedia dell'arte, and later drama.
Alichino
Alichino is a name used in two distinct literary contexts: in Dante Alighieri's Inferno it names one of the Malebranche devils assigned to guard the fifth bolgia of Hell; in Kouyu Shurei's manga Alichino it denotes a species of beautiful, wish-granting demons who prey on desperate humans in exchange for their souls.
Annowre (Elergia)
Annowre (also rendered Anouwre; Elergia in Italian La Tavola Ritonda) is a malignant enchantress in medieval Arthurian romance who attempts to seduce and bewitch King Arthur, typically through an enchanted ring and an entrapping tower or castle; she is ultimately overthrown and beheaded, her head displayed as proof of victory.
Aradia
Aradia is a name and motif appearing in late-19th-century folklorist literature (notably Charles G. Leland's Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches) and in Italian, Sardinian, and adjacent regional folklore where cognate names (Arada, Araja, Erodiade/Irodiada) are attached to a nocturnal female host associated with Diana/Herodias. Sources portray Aradia variously as a messianic teacher of witchcraft (Leland) and as part of a tradition of night-flying female spirits and regional fairy-queen figures (folklore surveys).
Badalisc
The Badalisc is a local ritual creature of Val Camonica (Andrista, Cevo) in northern Italy: an animal‑like masked figure captured in the woods at Epiphany, led into the village, and used as a mouthpiece for a satirical public speech that names communal misdeeds before being released back to the woods.
Barbariccia
Barbariccia is one of the Malebranche devils in Dante Alighieri's Inferno (Canto 22), portrayed as a corporal enforcer and a subordinate commander who supervises other devils in Bolgia Five of the Eighth Circle (the Malebolge). The name is Italian and literally means "curly beard."
Beatrice Portinari
Beatrice (Bice) di Folco Portinari appears in Dante Alighieri's works as the personified embodiment of beatific love, divine grace, and theological vision who intercedes for and ultimately guides the pilgrim from human reason into Paradise. Historically she may be a Florentine woman documented in late 13th-century records, but the literary Beatrice is primarily a theological and allegorical figure within Dante's poetic cosmology.
Belacqua
Belacqua is a literary soul appearing in Dante Alighieri's Purgatorio (Canto IV), encountered in Ante‑Purgatory as a saved soul whose delayed repentance requires him to wait before beginning active purgation. He personifies sloth/indolence, functions as a comic, humanized figure in Dante's moral topography, and was identified by early commentators with the Florentine instrument‑maker Duccio di Bonavia.
Community Record
- [1]Malebranche (Divine Comedy) - Wikipedia. "The Malebranche are the demons in the Inferno of Dante's Divine Comedy who guard Bolgia Five of the Eighth Circle (Malebolge). They figure in Cantos XXI, XXII, and XXIII. Vulgar and quarrelsome, their duty is to force the corrupt politicians (barrators) to stay under the surface of a boiling lake of pitch.", Malebranche - Wikipediawiki
- [2]Farfarello (Wikidata). Wikidata entry for Farfarello (Q15809310)other
- [3]Trilussa, La ninna nanna de la guerra (archive recording / text). Trilussa, La ninna nanna de la guerra — contains the lullaby line 'dormi, dormi, cocco bello, sennò chiamo Farfarello' used as a threat to quiet a child.folk