Throughout history and across cultures, certain animals have developed strong symbolic associations in myth and folklore. The raven is one such creature that has long been linked to death, doom, and misfortune in the human imagination. With its jet black plumage, croaking call, and propensity to feed on carrion, the raven epitomizes the foreboding aura of death. As a result, it has gained an almost universal reputation as a prophet of ill-tidings and an omen of mortality in legends and stories around the world.
Physical Attributes
The raven’s physical characteristics have contributed to its associations with death and the underworld. This large, all-black corvid has a straight, strong bill that allows it to tear flesh and thick plumage suited to enduring harsh northern climates. Ravens are among the largest perching birds, with wingspans of over 4 feet and the ability to reach lengths of up to 2 feet from beak to tail. Their size enables them to feed easily on carrion. They have iridescent black feathers covering their entire body, lending them a sinister mien. When in flight, their broad wings and wedge-shaped tails cut a stark silhouette against the sky. The raven’s deep, resonant croaks and cranking calls similarly add to its ominous aura.
Taxonomy
Ravens belong to the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. There are at least eight extant species classified as ravens, with the common raven (Corvus corax) having the largest range. Ravens are closely related to crows, jackdaws, and rooks within the corvid family. They are distinguished from their relatives by their larger size, curved bills, shaggy throat feathers, and wedged-shaped tails. Common ravens are found across the Northern Hemisphere and are the most widely distributed raven species. They are adaptable generalists and opportunistic omnivores that thrive in a variety of climates and habitats.
Physical Capabilities
In addition to their large size, ravens have a number of physical capabilities that increase their associations with death:
- Powerful flight – Ravens are able to fly great distances in search of food, including carrion.
- Adaptation to cold climates – Their thick plumage allows ravens to live in northern regions where carcasses are preserved by the cold.
- Group foraging – Ravens often feed on carrion in groups, allowing them to dominate food sources.
- Keen eyesight – They are able to spot the presence of carrion while in flight at high altitudes.
- Strong bills – Their heavy bills give ravens the ability to tear flesh and access marrow inside bones.
- Omnivorous diet – Ravens are opportunistic feeders, allowing them to exploit carrion when available.
- Vocalizations – Their deep, resonating calls carry over long distances.
These physical qualities enable ravens to be highly effective scavengers specialized in exploiting carrion, heightening their connections to death and dying.
Behavioral Patterns
Beyond their physicality, ravens also exhibit behaviors that reinforce associations between them and death:
Feeding on Carrion
Ravens are major scavengers that frequently feed on dead animals. They lack the strong sense of smell common in other carrion scavengers, relying instead on their keen eyesight to spot food sources while in flight. Once a raven locates carrion, others will congregate to feed together. Ravens exhibit necrophagy – the consumption of decaying animals. They are able to eat carrion in advanced stages of decomposition that might sicken or deter other wildlife.
Predation
While best known as scavengers, ravens are also effective predators. They prey upon small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, birds, eggs, and invertebrates to supplement their diet. Ravens have been recorded hunting cooperatively to kill larger prey like young ungulates. They sometimes peck out the eyes of larger animals while they are still alive. Such predatory behaviors reinforce the raven’s link to death and dying.
Perching in Cemeteries
Ravens frequently perch among gravestones in cemeteries and churchyards, drawn by the quietness of such locations. Their presence in burial grounds seems to acknowledge their link to the deceased. Surveys indicate increased raven populations in areas surrounding cemeteries.
Roosting on Sites of Death
Ravens have been observed alighting on sites where they perceive death has occurred. For example, they may land on fences, trees, or structures near the carcass of an animal struck by a vehicle. Such behavior likely relates to their recognition of death as a food source.
Mobbing Predators
Ravens are known for aggregating and mobbing larger predatory birds like eagles, stooping and diving at the predator. This behavior may function to drive the predator from the ravens’ feeding territory or signal danger to other ravens. Their dark mobbing flocks add to associations between ravens and ominous warnings.
Gathering Around Nesting Sites
During the nesting season, ravens forage over large distances but congregate at night in communal roosts that can contain thousands of individuals. This behavior creates an ominous spectacle of masses of ravens swarming darkly around areas where they nest and roost.
Mythology and Folklore
More than any other factor, the raven has cemented its grim associations through mythology and folklore across the world. These stories offer insights into how different cultures have perceived the raven over time.
Greek and Roman Mythology
In Greek and Roman mythology, ravens were associated with Apollo, the god of prophecy. They were depicted as couriers or messengers for Apollo, imparting cryptic messages and omens. Apollo was also linked to plagues and death.
Celtic Mythology
The raven features prominently in Celtic mythology, often portrayed as a messenger of the gods and an otherworldly carrier of souls between life and the afterlife. The Celtic war goddess Morrígan was said to take the form of a raven during battles.
Norse Mythology
According to Norse mythology, ravens played a key role at the violent battles of Ragnarok. The god Odin was accompanied by two ravens named Huginn and Muninn (“Thought” and “Memory”) who kept him appraised of events in the mortal world.
The Bible
In the Old Testament of the Bible, ravens were the first birds released by Noah from the ark after the Great Flood. The raven did not return, suggesting it was able to survive by feeding on the corpses of drowned animals.
Tower of London
Legend has it that if the ravens leave the Tower of London, the monarchy and Kingdom will fall. As a result, a group of captive ravens are kept at the tower, their wings clipped to prevent them from leaving.
Native American Traditions
Many Native American tribes considered the raven a spiritual messenger associated with creation myths, medicine powers, and the afterlife. The Kwakwaka’wakw people practiced mortuary ceremonies where shamans took on raven personae.
Literary Examples
The raven’s perceived ties to doom and mortality have inspired many prominent works of literature:
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe solidified the raven as a symbol of death in his famous narrative poem “The Raven” (1845). In it, a grieving lover is visited by a raven who ominously repeats the word “Nevermore,” driving the protagonist to madness.
Charles Dickens
In Charles Dickens’ novel “Barnaby Rudge” (1841), the character Grip is a raven who mimics phrases like “I’m a devil” and “What, never?” Grip meets a violent death, reinforcing the raven’s associations with mortality.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare used the raven multiple times in his works to foreshadow sinister events and untimely deaths. In “Julius Caesar”, the raven is described as a “fatal bellman” tolling a warning the night before Caesar’s assassination.
Edgar Allan Poe
In his poem “The Raven,” Poe establishes the raven as a symbol of mourning and loss through its repetitious response of “Nevermore” to questions about deceased loved ones. This colors the raven as a herald of misfortune and mortality.
W.B. Yeats and Others
Other poets including W.B. Yeats often utilized the raven as a literary device to add an ominous, gothic element that implies coming doom or mischance. Its croaking call is frequently portrayed as a messenger of ill fate.
Superstitions and Folklore
A wide range of superstitions and folklore link the raven to misfortune and mortality across numerous cultures:
Spotting a Raven
In many traditions, the sudden appearance of a raven in unusual places (like homes or populated areas) is treated as an ill omen portending sickness, death, or other calamities.
Calls and Cries
A raven’s rasping calls are often interpreted as warnings or messages about coming doom or death. Some believe a raven’s cry signifies an impending death nearby.
Raven Knocks
Folklore suggests the knock of a raven’s beak on a window or door warns of an imminent death in the household. This is likely related to their scavenging habits around sites associated with death.
Counting Ravens
Countries including Ireland and Scotland once held the superstition that counting groups of ravens foretold how many deaths would occur. Each croaking raven represented a human death to come.
Messengers of Death
In many cultural myths, the raven serves as a dark messenger or escort from the living to the spirit world. Their presence around deathbeds may be seen as a guide to the afterlife.
Cemeteries and Funerals
The sight of ravens in cemeteries and at funerals is often viewed as ominous evidence that evil or death is present. Their gloomy calls can signal mourning.
Poetic Inspiration
In Wales, some held the belief that Bran the Blessed (brother of King Arthur) kept the souls of dead poets in the form of ravens. The birds were said to inspire living poets when nearby.
Examples in Popular Culture
The raven’s perceived ties to death and doom make it a popular symbol in contemporary media for creating an ominous tone:
Horror Films
Directors like Alfred Hitchcock have used raven imagery and calls in horror movies to build suspense and a foreboding atmosphere. Examples include “Psycho” and “The Birds.”
Halloween Decor
Ravens are common Halloween motifs used on yard decorations, window silhouettes, and other displays to imply a dark, gothic creepiness associated with death.
Sports Mascots
The Baltimore Ravens NFL team uses the raven as its mascot to invoke a tone of intimidation and power – with overtones linking them to battle and warfare.
Comic Book Antiheroes
DC Comics character “Raven” taps into the bird’s associations with darkness. She possesses psychic abilities, obscure knowledge, and a grim persona.
Video Games
Shadowy raven imagery appears in video games like Assassin’s Creed and Bloodborne that deal with death and violence. The birds signal a dangerous, otherworldly mood.
| Culture | Raven Associations with Death |
|---|---|
| Native American | Linked to afterlife escort, death omens |
| Celtic | Messengers between life and afterlife |
| Norse | Presence at battles and sites of death |
| Greek/Roman | Prophets of misfortune and doom |
| Christian | Biblical harbinger, cemeteries, evil |
Conclusion
Few creatures have garnered such universal associations with death and misfortune as the raven. This is attributable to a unique convergence of factors related to the raven’s appearance, scavenging behaviors, literary history, cultural mythology, and superstitions. With its shadowy black plumage, harsh calls, vulture-like habits, and tendency to linger around sites of death and tragedy, the raven evokes a foreboding, sinister aura and an air of ominous prophecy. Across the Northern Hemisphere, human cultures have assigned the raven symbolic roles as a messenger of misfortune, a prophet of coming doom, a harbinger of death and disease, and a dark escort to the afterlife. Whether described as a “fatal bellman” by Shakespeare or “The Raven” of Poe’s imagination, this grim bird has long haunted the human psyche as a winged herald of mischance and mortality.
