Tell-tale gibberish

The great incomprehensibility of the giant Nimrod in Canto 31 of Inferno. He talks, but does he say anything? Chalk sketch by William Blake

The phenomenon of gibberish in Dante’s Inferno marks distinct moments where the boundaries of human language, and thus humanity itself, seem to fray.

A classic example occurs with Plutus, “Papé Satàn, papé Satàn alep…