Editing Common raven (section)

=== Cultural depictions ===
[[File:Bill Reid raven.jpg|thumb|[[Bill Reid]]'s sculpture ''[[The Raven and the First Men]]'', showing part of a [[Haida mythology|Haida]] creation myth. Museum of Anthropology, [[University of British Columbia]].]]
{{See also|Cultural depictions of ravens}}

Across its range in the Northern Hemisphere, and throughout human history, the common raven has been a powerful symbol and a popular subject of mythology and folklore.

In some [[Western culture|Western tradition]]s, ravens have long been considered to be birds of ill omen, death and evil in general, in part because of the negative symbolism of their all-[[Black#Beliefs, religions and superstitions|black]] plumage and the eating of [[carrion]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=birds.raven |title=Raven: The Northern Bird of Paradox |access-date=2007-02-12 |last=Schwan |first=Mark |date=January 1990 |publisher=Alaska Fish and Game |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100102055945/http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=birds.raven |archive-date=January 2, 2010 }}</ref> In Sweden, ravens are known as the ghosts of murdered people, and in Germany as the souls of the damned. In [[Danish folklore]], [[valravn]]e that ate a king's heart gained human knowledge, could perform great malicious acts, could lead people astray, had superhuman powers, and were "terrible animals".<ref name=KRISTENSEN132>Kristensen, Evald Tang. (1980) ''Danske Sagn: Som De Har Lyd I Folkemunde'', Nyt Nordisk Forlag Arnold Busck, Copenhagen. {{ISBN|87-17-02791-8}}. p. 132.</ref>

It continues to be used as a symbol in areas where it once had mythological status: as the [[List of national birds|national bird]] of [[Bhutan]]<ref name = "ravenbhutan"/> ([[Druk Gyalpo|kings of Bhutan]] wear the [[Raven Crown]]), official bird of the [[Yukon]] territory,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gov.yk.ca/aboutyukon/emblemsandsymbols.html |title=Yukon Territorial Bird |publisher=Government of Yukon |access-date=2007-05-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212123740/http://www.gov.yk.ca/aboutyukon/emblemsandsymbols.html |archive-date=February 12, 2012 }}</ref> and on the coat of arms of the [[Isle of Man]] (once a Viking colony).<ref>{{cite web | title = Island Facts – Isle of Man Government | author = Isle of Man Government | url = http://www.gov.im/isleofman/facts.xml | access-date = 2007-05-19 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070510212828/http://www.gov.im/isleofman/facts.xml | archive-date = 2007-05-10 }}</ref>

In Persia and Arabia, the raven was held as a bird of bad omen but a 14th-century Arabic work reports use of the raven in falconry.<ref>{{cite journal| title=Note on the common raven-''Corvus corax''| author=Phillott, D.C. |pages=115–116| journal=Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal| year=1907| volume=3|url=https://archive.org/stream/mobot31753002183785#page/114/mode/2up}}</ref>

The modern [[unisex given name]] ''[[Raven (given name)|Raven]]'' is derived from the English word "raven". As a masculine name, ''Raven'' parallels the Old Norse ''[[Hrafn]]'',<ref name="Hanks-226">{{Cite book |last1=Hanks |first1=Patrick |last2=Hardcastle |author-link1=Patrick Hanks |first2=Kate |last3=Hodges |first3=Flavia |title=A Dictionary of First Names |edition=2nd |series=Oxford Paperback Reference |year=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-861060-1 |page=226}}</ref> and Old English ''*Hræfn'', which were both [[byname]]s and [[personal name]]s.<ref name="Reaney">{{Cite book |last=Reaney |first=Percy Hilde |author2=Wilson, Richard Middlewood |title=A Dictionary of English Surnames |edition=3rd |year=2006 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-0-203-99355-2 |page=2594}}</ref>
[[File:Valkyrie and Raven (NGV).png|thumb|upright|A [[valkyrie]] speaks with a raven in a 19th-century illustration of the [[Old Norse]] poem ''[[Hrafnsmál]]'' ("raven song") by [[Frederick Sandys]]]]

==== Mythology ====
{{Main article|Raven in mythology}}
In the [[History of the Tlingit#Creation story and the Raven Cycle|Tlingit]] and [[Haida mythology|Haida]] cultures, Raven was both a [[trickster]] and [[creator god]]. Related beliefs are widespread among the peoples of [[Siberia]] and northeastern Asia.<ref>{{cite journal |first=W. |last=Bogoras |year=1902 |title=The Folklore of Northeastern Asia, as Compared with That of Northwestern America |journal=American Anthropologist |volume=4 |issue=4 |pages=577–683 |doi=10.1525/aa.1902.4.4.02a00020 |doi-access= }}</ref> The [[Kamchatka Peninsula]], for example, was supposed to have been created by the raven god [[Kutkh]].<ref>Worth, D.D. (1961). ''Kamchadal Texts Collected by W. Jochelson'', 's-Gravenhage, Mouton.</ref> There are several references to common ravens in the [[Old Testament]] of the [[Bible]] and it is an aspect of [[Mahakala]] in [[Bhutan]]ese mythology.<ref name = "ravenbhutan">{{cite web | title = The Himalaya Kingdom | author = Bhutan Tourism Corporation | url = http://www.kingdomofbhutan.com/kingdom/kingdom_2_.html | access-date = 2007-05-17 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070429002322/http://www.kingdomofbhutan.com/kingdom/kingdom_2_.html | archive-date = 2007-04-29 | url-status = dead }}</ref>

In [[Norse mythology]], [[Huginn and Muninn|Huginn]] (from the Old Norse for "thought") and [[Huginn and Muninn|Muninn]] (from the Old Norse for "memory" or "mind") are a pair of ravens that fly all over the world of humans, [[Midgard]], and bring the god [[Odin]] information. Additionally, among the Norse, [[raven banner]] standards were carried by such figures as the [[Earl of Orkney|Jarls of Orkney]],<ref>{{cite book |author1=Pálsson, Hermann  |author2=Edwards, Paul | title = Orkneyinga Saga: The History of the Earls of Orkney | publisher = Hogarth Press | year = 1978 | location = London | isbn= 978-0-7012-0431-0}}</ref> King [[Cnut the Great]] of England, Norway, and Denmark,<ref>{{cite book | author = Campbell, Alistair |author2=Keynes, Simon | title = Encomium Emmae Reginae | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1998 | location = Cambridge | isbn= 978-0-521-62655-2 }}</ref> and [[Harald Hardrada]].<ref>{{cite book | last = Sturluson|first= Snorri | title = King Harald's Saga: Harald Hardradi of Norway: From Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla | publisher = Penguin | year = 2005 | isbn=978-0-14-044183-3}}</ref>

In the British Isles, ravens also were symbolic to the [[Celts]]. In [[Irish mythology]], the goddess [[Morrígan]] alighted on the hero [[Cú Chulainn]]'s shoulder in the form of a raven after his death.<ref>{{cite web | author = Jones, M | title = The Death of Cu Chulainn | publisher = Academy for Ancient Texts | url = http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/cuchulain3.html | access-date = 2007-05-19}}</ref> In [[Welsh mythology]] they were associated with the Welsh god [[Brân the Blessed]], whose name translates to "raven" and "crow". According to the ''[[Mabinogion]]'', Brân's head was buried in the White Hill of London as a [[talisman]] against invasion.<ref>{{cite book | last = Ford | first = Patrick K. | title = The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales | chapter = Branwen daughter of Llŷr | publisher = University of California Press | year = 1977 | location = Berkeley | isbn = 978-0-520-03414-3 | chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/mabinogiothermed00fordrich | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/mabinogiothermed00fordrich }}</ref>

A legend developed that England would not fall to a foreign invader as long as there were [[Ravens of the Tower of London|ravens at the Tower of London]]; although this is often thought to be an ancient belief, the official Tower of London historian, Geoff Parnell, believes that this is actually a romantic Victorian invention.<ref>{{cite news |title=Tower's raven mythology may be a Victorian flight of fantasy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/nov/15/britishidentity.artsandhumanities |work=The Guardian |date=15 November 2004 |access-date=5 December 2008 | location=London | first=Maev | last=Kennedy}}</ref>

In the [[Judaism|Jewish]], [[Christianity|Christian]] and [[Islamic]] traditions, the raven was the first animal to be released from [[Noah's Ark]]. "So it came to pass, at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. Then he sent out a raven, which kept going to and fro until the waters had dried up from the earth. He also sent out from himself a dove, to see if the waters had receded from the face of the ground."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Genesis 8:6-8 - New King James Version|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%208:6-8&version=NKJV|access-date=2023-07-02|website=Bible Gateway|language=en}}</ref> The raven is mentioned 12 times in the Bible. In the [[New Testament]] [[Jesus Christ|Jesus]] tells a parable using the raven to show how people should rely on God for their needs and not riches ([[s:Bible (American Standard)/Luke#12:24|Luke 12:24]]).<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite web|title=Luke 12:24 - New Living Translation|url=http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+12:24&version=NLT|access-date=2023-07-02|website=Bible Gateway|language=en}}</ref> The raven is also mentioned in the [[Quran]] at the story of [[Cain and Abel]]. [[Adam]]'s firstborn son Cain kills his brother Abel, but he does not know what to do with the corpse: "Then Allah sent a raven scratching up the ground, to show him how to hide his brother's naked corpse. He said: Woe unto me! Am I not able to be as this raven and so hide my brother's naked corpse? And he became repentant."<ref>(بَعَثَ اللّهُ غُرَابًا يَبْحَثُ فِي الأَرْضِ لِيُرِيَهُ كَيْفَ يُوَارِي سَوْءةَ أَخِيهِ قَالَ يَا وَيْلَتَا أَعَجَزْتُ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِثْلَ هَذَا الْغُرَابِ فَأُوَارِيَ سَوْءةَ أَخِي فَأَصْبَحَ مِنَ النَّادِمِينَ) Qur'an 5:31, translation: Pickthall, Marmaduke ''The Meaning of the Glorious Koran: An Explanatory Translation'', Amana Publications, 1st edition (1996) {{ISBN|978-0915957224}}</ref>