Ravens in Mythology

Ravens are scavengers. They follow wolves, coyotes and polar bears in order to garner from the remains of their kills. It is highly likely that they had a similar relationship with prehistoric man. It would seem reasonable to assume that by the time written records cold be left behind that mankind and ravenkind knew each other well. Birds which look to be Ravens or Crows occur among the cave paintings of Lascaux (France) and are among the 12 bird species depicted in Neolithic cave paintings in the Tajo Segura Cave in Spain.

The Raven is a bird to be noticed and as such it gets mentioned in the Bible - Elijah is fed by them and Noah sends them out to find dry land (and they don't return). Shakespeare includes mention of them in about half of his plays, Edgar Allen Poe wrote one of the most famous poems in the English with a Raven as one of its major characters and Dickens included them in Barnaby Rudge. Few other birds have such a literary claim to fame. They are, apparently, named in the Koran as well.

To the ancient Romans the Raven was the most important bird for omens, and Ravens were kept as pets by legionnaires. To the Norsemen the Raven was the sacred bird of their religion - Odin was apparently accompanied by two Ravens, Hugin and Munin (Thought and Memory). Each day they flew across the world, returning in the evenings to Odin's shoulders to report to him what they had seen. Odin is/was the Raven God and the war banner of the Norsemen was fashioned in the form of a Raven. Across the whole of the northern hemisphere the Raven is regarded as a bird of omen, a messenger for the Gods and a harbinger of death. This is probably as a result of its taste for feeding on carcasses, human as well as any other.

Before the Middle Ages the Raven was looked upon kindly in the UK where it was honoured for its role as a scavenger helping to keep the cities clean. Up to the late 1400s it was protected by law in many cities. Ravens still live in London, nesting in the Tower of London. Mythology claims the tower will crumble and collapse and the Monarchy be in danger if less than 6 Ravens live there. In the countryside they were not so appreciated and were blamed for many dead lambs. This would have been as the result of their habit of feeding on the afterbirth of sheep as well as on stillborn and recently dead lambs.

To many North American Indians the Raven was a bird of extraordinary knowledge and power. It was honoured as being unearthly and it is a frequent totem animal in North American culture. The Inuits have a myth telling how the Raven invented light by throwing chips of mica into the air.

By the 1500s the Raven had lost its protected status in the UK where it was then persecuted as it was in much of the rest of western Europe. Bounties were paid for it up until the 1800s.

During the 20th century however Ravens have gradually come to be respected in much of Europe though they are still often blamed by farmers for the deaths of lambs.

Ravens in particular, but also all the other members of the Genus Corvus are wonderful intelligent, playful birds. Who well repay the effort spent in getting to know them. Considering that they are so common in many towns and cities it is a shame they are not more respected, and I hope this short introduction to them will inspire you to read up on, and observe their thoroughly fascinating behaviour more honestly.