[Virgil] stepped aside, and stopping me, announced:
"This is is he, this is Dis; this is the place
that calls for all the courage you have in you."

Alighieri, Dante. The Divine Comedy Volume 1: Inferno. Page. 380, Lines 19-21, Canto XXXIV, Penguin Classics, Indiana University, 2003

Lucifer is perhaps the most misunderstood angel of all. Upon mentioning the name, anyone even familiar with Western religion at all contrives an image of Evil, winged and terrible as the end.

However, Lucifer, I protest, is not the devil (this is not an original idea of mine, I am not making this up, all can be found in Gustav Davidson's brilliant compendium of angelology A Dictionary of Angels). The misconception, as Davidson suggests, comes from an early misreading of the Book of Isaiah 14:12

"How art thou fallen from
heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
morning! How art thou cut down
to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!"

This passage is actually directed at the King of Babylon. Book 14 of Isaiah describes the punishments of Nebuchadnezzar in Hell, and the rejoicing of the land once reaped, as Lucifer was cut down, and the nations weakened under the rule of tyranny. Lucifer actually means "light giver". Davidson's dictionary provides a vibrant spectrum of information on Lucifer, and I wholeheartedly encourage you to pick up this book if you have any interest at all in angels.