CrowThough not generally perceived as graceful, crows are remarkably so—a single curve undulates from the tip of the bird’s beak to the end of its tail. They take flight almost without effort, flapping their wings easily and ascending into the air like spirits. Crow by Boria Sax is a celebration of the crow and its relatives in myth, literature, and life. Sax takes readers into the history of crows, detailing how in a range of cultures, from the Chinese to the Hopi Indians, crows are bearers of prophecy. For example, thanks in part to the birds’ courtship rituals, Greeks invoked crows as symbols of conjugal love. From the raven sent out by Noah to the corvid deities of the Eskimo, from Taoist legends to Victorian novels and contemporary films, Sax’s book ranges across history and culture and will interest anyone who has ever been intrigued, puzzled, annoyed, or charmed by these wonderfully intelligent birds. |
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Page 9
... story from the Hindu Udana known as The Blind Men and the Elephant'. Seven blind men were presented by a rajah with an elephant and asked to describe it. One felt the head and said that the elephant was like a basket, while another felt ...
... story from the Hindu Udana known as The Blind Men and the Elephant'. Seven blind men were presented by a rajah with an elephant and asked to describe it. One felt the head and said that the elephant was like a basket, while another felt ...
Page 22
... story', an observation of corvids that reveals their unusual intelligence or their emotional awareness. Anecdotal accounts may be suspect, particularly from the point of view of a scientist. Inevitably, these incidents involve not only ...
... story', an observation of corvids that reveals their unusual intelligence or their emotional awareness. Anecdotal accounts may be suspect, particularly from the point of view of a scientist. Inevitably, these incidents involve not only ...
Page 32
... Stories of ravens in the Near East go back far before the sacred texts of Judaism and Christianity. In the fragmentary Babylonian epic of king Naram-Sin, from the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, men with heads of ravens ...
... Stories of ravens in the Near East go back far before the sacred texts of Judaism and Christianity. In the fragmentary Babylonian epic of king Naram-Sin, from the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, men with heads of ravens ...
Page 33
... story is told of Noah (Genesis 8:6-12) as of Ut-napishtim, though with a few important variations. The ark of Noah had come to rest on Mount Ararat. First, Noah sent out a raven, but it circled back and forth and did not bring back news ...
... story is told of Noah (Genesis 8:6-12) as of Ut-napishtim, though with a few important variations. The ark of Noah had come to rest on Mount Ararat. First, Noah sent out a raven, but it circled back and forth and did not bring back news ...
Page 34
... story of Noah and the raven records the inability of certain animals to follow human direction. Folklorists have suggested that the story may at one point have been an etiological tale, where the raven had originally been white but was ...
... story of Noah and the raven records the inability of certain animals to follow human direction. Folklorists have suggested that the story may at one point have been an etiological tale, where the raven had originally been white but was ...
Contents
31 | |
38 | |
The European Middle Ages and Renaissance | 55 |
Asia | 80 |
Native American Culture | 90 |
The Romantic Era | 102 |
Lord of the Crows | 128 |
The Twentieth Century and Beyond | 144 |
References | 164 |
Bibliography | 168 |
Websites | 175 |
Associations | 177 |
Acknowledgements | 178 |
Photo Acknowledgements | 179 |
Index | 180 |
Timeline | 162 |
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Common terms and phrases
Ages and Renaissance American crow animals Apollo appear archaic associated Athena Badbh battle beak became behaviour birds body carrion crow Celtic Celts colour common raven corone corvids creatures crow Corvus crow or raven crows and ravens culture dead death deity divination Emperor Ernest Thompson Seton especially Europe fable farmers feathers fields flew genus Corvus Ghost Dance goddess Gogh Greek Grimm brothers heaven hero hooded crow Horapollo human illustration Indians Inuit Irish jackdaw Jacob de Voragine killed king legend literature live Lorenz magpie medieval Middle Ages myths Native Americans nests nineteenth century Noah numbers O'Casey Odin painted pecking perched perhaps poem popular probably prophet raven or crow Roman rooks scarecrow scaring scientists Sean O'Casey Seton shows Silverspot sometimes story symbol tale tell told traditions tree twentieth century wings wolves word wrote young