The raven or crow is woven into superstition, folklore and
myth, much more than any other bird. It has always been closely linked with
death: a portent of disaster regarded with superstitious dread. This is because
of its colour - associated with death – and also its habit of eating carrion
and scavenging on battlefields. For example in Celtic culture, Morrigan, the
dread Goddess of war and death, often took the form of a crow, and to see her
on the eve of a battle foretold one's certain death.
But the associations of this bird are not all negative. In a
time when death was not considered the end, merely a transit from one existence
to another, often before rebirth into this world, the raven or crow was linked
to divine wisdom. What other bird has such an intimate understanding of the
machinations of life and death, the two fundamental factors of existence?
Many great folk-heroes were linked to the raven on account of
this. Bran the Blessed was a hero-king of Celtic tradition, and his head was
said to be buried under what is now the Tower of London, long a sacred spot, as
a safeguard against foreign invasion. Bran, in modern Welsh, still means 'crow'
or 'raven.' King Arthur was also linked to the raven. A Cornish superstition
forbids harming a raven on account that it may be Arthur. This is perhaps
linked to the common superstition that to harm a raven is unlucky.
And further afield Odin, chief of the Norse Gods, had two
ravens, Huginn and Muninn, meaning 'thought' and 'memory,' who told him
everything that was happening in the nine worlds.
The crow was also considered, along with other birds
including the swan and goose, to carry the souls of the recently deceased to
the next world.
The raven is a symbol of the British soul. Ravens living at
the Tower of London are carefully protected, due to a legend dating back to the
seventeenth century that if the ravens leave, the kingdom will fall. During the
Blitz in 1940, raven numbers were reduced to just one. And remember, this is
where the raven-hero Bran's head was buried.
I also have to mention the film The Crow, starring
Brandon Lee - another name deriving from 'crow.' This film is based on the
surmise that a crow carries the soul to the land of the dead, but if that death
was the result of a great wrong, the crow can bring the soul back to put the
wrong things right. A strange coincidence: Brandon was tragically killed during
the filming process. There is certainly more to this film than at first meets
the eye.
And there is more to this bird than meets the eye.
