Cultural Depictions of Ravens - Classic Literature

Classic Literature

The raven is often depicted in classic literature. William Shakespeare refers to the raven more often than to any other bird; works such as Othello and Macbeth provide examples. In Charles Dickens' novel Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty, the raven "Grip" is an important character. The raven is used as a supernatural messenger in Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven". In this and in Dickens' book, the bird's power of speech is important. In other works of literature, Christopher Marlowe's play The Jew of Malta and Edmund Spencer's The Faerie Queene, the raven's darkly ominous image is also employed. In The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, Roäc son of Carc is the leader of the Ravens of the Lonely Mountain.

In the well-known ballad The Three Ravens, a slain knight is depicted from the point of view of ravens who seek to eat him but are prevented by his loyal hawks, hounds and leman (lover).

The first name "Bram" is derived from a convergence of two separate etymological sources, one being an abbreviation of "Abraham", but the other being the Gaelic word "bran", meaning "raven".

The Raven King, a human mage who once ruled northern England in Susanna Clarke's 2005 novel Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, was often attended by ravens as his familiars. His flag was a black raven on a white field.