Calcabrina

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Calcabrina is one of the ten devils who escort Dante and Virgil along the bank of the fifth bolgia, where the barrators are immersed in boiling pitch. His name, coined by Dante, is pronounced by Barbariccia in the roll call of the squad at verse 118 of Canto XXI, alongside Alichino: «Tra'ti avante, Alichino, e Calcabrina». The note to Canto XXI places Calcabrina in the series of ten extravagant names coined by Dante for the demons of this bolgia, defined as «comic», and emphasizes its farcical and aggressive register. In Canto XXII Calcabrina speaks again during the scuffle in which the devils hurl themselves against one another, as read at verse 133: «Irato Calcabrina de la buffa», where he is depicted as reacting with anger to the trick orchestrated by Ciampolo and his companions.