Ravens, Crows, & birds of ill omen seem to be quite prevalent in the field of literature. They've been used as symbols and metaphors in many famous works, including Edgar Allan Poe's classic poem, "The Raven." Whether it is the brooding gothic aspect of the Raven, or the Native Trickster figure getting into mischief, people are charmed by these dark birds. Browse through the following and see how charming, or malevolent, you find them...


Poetry

• The Raven, by Edgar Allan Poe - This link includes an intro written by Poe himself.
  
• Or, check out these parodies of The Raven:
  • Ravin'
  • The Raven's Story
  • The End of the Raven
  • The Maven
  • Poe Puree (A.K.A. Abort, Retry, Ignore)
• The Twa Corbies - An old Scottish poem about two Crows.
  
• Haikus about crows.
  
• Counting Rhymes about Crows and Magpies.
• Raven's Nest - A poem by Donald Levering.
  
• Crow in Tree, a poem at the ASCAR homepage.
• All Crow by Leslie Trumphour.
• Various crow poems at Raven's Keep.

• Indigenous People's Literature has many tales, including:
  
  • Northwest Creation Story
  • In the Beginning
  • Man and the Ravens (a Chippewa tale)
  • Raven and his Grandmother (an Aleut tale)
  • Raven's Great Adventure (an Alaskan tale)
  • Crow and Hawk
  • Why Coyote stopped Imitating his Friends
• Eldrbarry's Site including the following stories, and some excellent background material on native myths.
  
  • The man that sat on the tides
  • Mink and the Sun
  • Raven and Crow's Potlatch
  • Raven and the first man
• Yelth: The Raven an excellent site, with lots of resources, including:
  • The Creation Legend
    
  • Great Raven makes the World
    
  • Ravens steals the sun, stars, and moon
    
  • Raven steals the light
    
  • Raven didn't stick around
    
  • When Raven was killed
    
  • A story of Raven
    
  • How Raven became black
    
  • Raven and Goose-Wife
    
• A Raven Mythology Page with some interesting stories and information.
  
• Read Raven and the Mountain Woman at this Raven's Roost.

Ravens, Crows, Jackdaws, etc in Aesop's Fables

• Aesop's Fables translated by George Fyler Townsend includes:
  
  • The Crow and Mercury
  • The Crow and the Pitcher
  • The Crow and the Raven
  • The Crow and the Serpent
  • The Crow and the Sheep
  • The Dove and the Crow
  • The Fox and the Crow
  • The Jackdaw and the Doves
  • The Jackdaw and the Fox
  • The Eagle and the Jackdaw
  • The Raven and the Swan
  • The Swallow and the Crow
  • The Vain Jackdaw

Ravens, Crows, and Magpies in other Tales

• Stories of Wahn - Australian raven myths.
• A Nepalese site containing the story of the Crow with a Raspy Voice.
  
• Salt on a Magpie's Tail - A norweigan folktale, on Elderbarry's page.
  
• Seven Crows on a German page.
• Medeival Manuscript - translation of a manuscript mentioning ravens.
  
• Crows or ravens may also be responsible for the Phoenix Legend.

On Television and in Theatre

• The Crow, by J. O'Barr -a comic book, which made a hit film plus a so-so sequel.
• 'The Raven' is also a popular bar in the vampiric Forever Knight television series.
• And don't forget the movie version of The Raven based loosely on Poe's famous poem.

You can also find more information of corvidae in mythology and folklore on my Spirituality page.

For recommendations on books about the corvidae family, check out the Raven's Bookshelf.

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There's also a lot of excellent literature on ravens, crows, and native mythology available through your local library. I highly recommend doing some off-line reading on the subject, if you get a chance.

Drop me a line!