Book Design — Ravens by Jan Wise

A Storytelling of
Ravens & Crows
World Lore: Myths, Facts, Stories, Poems
Paintings by Jan Wise

A Storytelling of
Ravens & Crows
World Lore: Myths, Facts, Stories, Poems
Paintings by Jan Wise
Washburn, Wisconsin
2012

Acknowledgments
A special thank you to Paul Lantz, a Canadian photographer
who allowed me to use his images of ravens as reference photos.
Special thanks also to Catherine Lange, who designed this book and
created the illustrations that accompany “Raven Frees the Light.”
Copyright © 2012 Jan Wise
All rights reserved
Learn more about ravens and crows, as I did, by reading the world
lore, myths, facts, stories, and poems found in these books:
Catherine Feher-Elston. Ravensong: A Natural and Fabulous History
of Ravens and Crows. New York, Penguin, 1991.
Lynn Hassler. The Raven: Soaring Through History, Legend & Lore.
Tucson, Arizona, Rio Nuevo Publishers, 2008.
Bernd Heinrich. Mind of the Raven. New York, First Vintage Books, 1991.
Bernd Heinrich. Ravens in Winter. New York, Summit Books, 1989.
John M. Marzluff & Tony Angell. In the Company of Crows and Ravens.
New Haven, Connecticut, Yale University, 2005.
Candace Savage. Bird Brains: The Intelligence of Crows, Ravens,
Magpies, and Jays. San Francisco, Sierra Club, 1995.

Introduction
Many artists choose their subjects, sometimes,
subjects choose their artists. Such is the case with the
Raven and artist Jan Wise. It makes perfect sense when
you consider the Orvid characteristics: intelligent,
curious, mischievous, ingenious, loyal, socially
conscious and cooperative. In describing the Orvid
family traits, it is easy to consider Wise to be a relative.
Feathered creatures are often assumed vain since
they spend a considerable amount of time preening
and displaying their plumed finery. Who better, to
choose as your portraitist, than the skilled, intuitively
nuanced artistry of Jan Wise. Her love of the natural
and mythological realms of birds is aptly celebrated in
these pages.
May this book of images and legends be a shiny object
that appeals to the crow in you.
Penny Perry

This is the story about crows:
One is for sorrow
Two is for mirth
1
2

3
4
Three is a wedding
Four is a birth
Old American Rhyme

In the year 874
The Viking Floki set out from Norway to find the mythical island to the west.
Floki took 3 ravens with him on the voyage. At certain intervals of time, each raven was released from the boat.
The first raven flew back east toward Norway. The second raven flew back to the boat. The third raven led Floki and his Vikings to
the shore of Iceland. From that time forward, Floki was known as Raven-Floki.

Marcus: The Mission of the Raven:
Genesis 8.7
When the seventh day arrived,
I ( Noah ) released a dove to go free,
the dove went and returned,
no landing place came to view, it turned back.
I released a swallow to go free,
the swallow went and returned,
no landing place came to view, it turned back.
I sent a raven to go free,
the raven went forth, saw the ebbing of the waters,
it ate, circled, left droppings, did not turn back.

Raven Was Called YAAHL
The original Yaahl was snow white. He, Yaahl, saw that his people were cold at night and huddled on the shore. Knowing that they could
benefit from heat from a fire, he flew to the 7 sisters of the Pleiades high in the sky and stole fire from their camp. While
he was flying back with the fire, he was singed black and his beak was charred. Raven has been black ever since….
From the Haida: First people of the Pacific Northwest

Raven Sun Symbol
In China, Raven was the
sun symbol called Yatagarasu.
Raven belonged to the
Sun Goddess Amaterasu.
In the Hellenized world,
Raven belonged to the
sun god Apollo.
Raven represented the
winter or the Boreal side
of the sun.
In the Northwest coast
first people nations,
raven saved the sun
from a selfish person
who had hidden the sun
away for his own private use
and returned it to all
the people, animals
and plants.

Raven
Frees the Light
A selfish man stole all the light and stored
the sun, moon and stars in cedar boxes on the
other side of the sky. The people pleaded with raven
to help return the light to them. Raven finally consented
and flew through the hole in the sky to the camp. The selfish
man had a beautiful daughter that Raven observed for many
days. One day when she went to draw water from the lake, Raven
turned himself into a pine needle and when she took a drink from
her container, she became pregnant with raven. When raven baby
was born he had a nose like a beak but his grandfather and mother
loved him and he became very spoiled. Raven baby would scream
until his grandfather gave him a box of light. First he was given
the moon box, then the star box and after much fussing and
fussing, finally the sun box, When he had all the boxes he
unfurled his great wings, and took the light back to the
people on the other side of the sky.
from the Pacific Northwest
Original Peoples

181 Names
A University of Georgia
anthropologist has confirmed
approximately 181 names
for crows and ravens:
This is from 136 different
human languages on at
least five separate continents.
Many of these words
are onomatopoetic.

Dust of Snow
The way a crow
Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree
Has given my heart
A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
Robert Frost

King Arthur
Have not your worships read the annals and histories of England, in which are
recorded the famous deeds of King Arthur…with regard to whom it is an ancient
tradition, and commonly received
all over that kingdom of Great
Britain, that this king did not die,
but was changed by magic art into
a raven, and that in process of time
he is to return to reign and recover
his kingdom and scepter; for
which reason it cannot be proved
that from that time to this any
Englishman ever killed a raven?
from Don Quixote

Prophecy of the
Circling Raven
The Salishan people of North Idaho
were called the Coeur d’Alene or
Flathead Indians. Their Shamans
could speak to the crows and
ravens. The bird, said to have a
blue aura, told the people about the
coming of the white man, said to be
the prophecy of the circling raven.
One of the other prophecies of the
circling raven told the people of a
savior born. The prophecy was told
in 1740. The story included the
birth at the winter solstice, and that
children should be fed extra and
receive a gift, and that there should
be no fighting. The story included
the prophecy of the black robes
who will tell the rest of the story.
For 100 years, the Coeur d’Alene
had scouts searching for the black
robes. In 1830 they heard of the
black coats and were told that they were in what is now St. Louis, Missouri. Finally, in 1840 they were able
to bring the Priests to their nation in what is now Utah.
From the Salishan people of North Idaho

Rain Rain
Rain Rain, this bird seems to say.
Ravens were thought to be able
to prophesy and to be able to
predict bad weather.

History—The Flight of Four Crows
Before European settlers, the Lenape Nation hunted from Delaware to New York. The tribe
conceived of history as the flight of 4 crows. The first was the time before European contact,
the flights of the second and third crows relate to the period of persecution and exile. The
flight of the 4th crow is the time when Lenape culture will be restored, which began in the
1960’s with the American Indian Movement.

Clever Crow
A helpful crow taught his fellows
To break a shell by dropping it
On a rock and then swooped
Down to claim the food for himself.
Aesop’s Fable

Two Ravens—
Huginn (Thought)
and Muninn
(Memory)
Two ravens sit on the Norse
God Odin’s shoulders and
bring to his ears all that they
see and hear. Their names
are Huginn and Muninn.
At dawn, Odin sends them
out to fly over the whole
world, and they come
back at night. Thus he gets
information about many
things, and hence Odin is Huginn and Muninn
called Rafnagud (Raven-
Fly everyday
Over the great earth
God) as is here said:
I fear for Huginn
That he may not return
Yet, I am more anxious for Muninn.

Raven Bring Us Luck
Make prayers to the Raven.
Raven that is,
Raven that was,
Raven that always will be.
Make prayers to the Raven.
Raven bring us luck.
From the Koyukon
of the Pacific Northwest

Elsewhere, you may have observed a gaggle of geese,
a convocation of eagles, or a kettle of hawks…
in this book, discover a storytelling of ravens and crows.