THE RAVEN OR CROW IN LITERATURE 



THE raven and his congener, the crow, are so confused 

 in literature, as well as in the minds of the great 

 mass of people who are unfamiliar with ornitholog- 

 ical classification, that it is almost a necessity to here treat 

 them as identical. The raven is a larger bird and not quite 

 so numerous or widely distributed as the crow, but in gen- 

 eral appearance and habits they are practically the same. 



If tradition is to be credited, we are more indebted to this 

 bird of ancient family than to any other feathered creature, 

 for he has played an important part in history — ^sacred and 

 profane — in literature, and in art; and throughout all ages 

 and nations he has rendered invaluable service. 



On the authority of the Koran we know that it was he 

 who first taught man to bury his dead. When Cain knew 

 not what disposition to make of the body of his slain brother, 

 "God sent a raven, who killed another raven in his presence, 

 and then dug a pit with his beak and claws, and buried him 

 therein." And it was the raven whom Noah sent forth to 

 learn whether the waters had abated — one of the rare in- 

 stances wherein he ever proved faithless to his trust — and it 

 was he who gave sustenance to the hungry prophet, Elijah. 



In Norse mythology, Odin, the greatest of all the gods 

 — ^the raven's god — had for his chief advisers two ravens, 

 Hugin and Munin (Mind and Memory) , who were sent out 



167 



