Dellinferno
- Ancient name
- Ninguaria
- Modern name
- Tenerife
- Modern country
- Canary Islands (Spain)
- Coordinates
- 28.23, -16.58
Dellinferno, now Tenerife, is the largest of the Canary Islands. It is formed around a central volcanic mountain called Mount Teide, which has the highest elevation in Spain and the highest elevation among all Atlantic islands. Due to Mount Teide's regular volcanic activity, the island generally appears on 14th- and 15th-century maps as Dellinferno ("Island of Hell"). Interpreting this toponym in their exemplars literally, some Sfera mapmakers placed a drawing of Hell at this point in the text (Ashb2, Cap1, Luc2, LW01, Marc2).
This toponym does not appear in the poem, only on the maps accompanying it.
Map of the location M025
Variant spellings of Dellinferno in Sfera manuscripts
| Variant | Manuscripts |
|---|---|
| [...]allofern[...] | Pad1 |
| [dellinferno?] | Morg |
| d'linferno | Ricc1 |
| dalinferno | Fo |
| dedinferno [sic] | Med2 |
| del ifernno | Pnc3 |
| deli[n]ferno | ME2, Ricc12 |
| DELIFERNO | Ashb3 |
| delinfeano | Fn12 |
| Delinfer[...] | Par1 |
| Delinferno | Con1, Cors2, Par3 |
| DELINFERNO | Med3, Wie1 |
| delinferno | Con4, Fn9, He2, NB, Pnc4 |
| Delinfero | Clas2 |
| delinfierno | Bal |
| delinfrono | Ricc8 |
| dellinferni | Parm2 |
| Dellinferno | MB, NYPL2 |
| dellinferno | Laur3, Laur5, Ricc15, Ricc17 |
| DELLINFERNO | Pal5 |
| dello inferno | Marc1 |
| delo[n]ferno | Per2 |
| dilinferno | NYPL3 |
| ferno | Ashb7 |
| infernno | Cs1 |
| inferno | Magl2, Pnc5 |
| isola dinferno | Pal8 |
| Parte dellinferno | Cap1, Marc2 |
| y[sol]a dinferno | Tre |
- Suggested citation
- Beneš, Carrie. “Dellinferno.” Gregorio Dati’s La sfera = The Globe: A Digital Edition, May 3, 2026. https://la-sfera-staging-a8db029690a6.herokuapp.com/toponyms/dellinferno/.