Corvine Questions: A Quiz About Ravens

Answer: Rook

When ravens appear to be watching or guarding something, they are called "a constable." When ravens are driving off other animals, or hunting together, they are called "a conspiracy," or "an unkindness." A rook is another species of bird, cousin to the raven and crow.

Answer: New Zealand

The three known extinct ravens are the Chatham raven, the New Zealand raven, and the Pied raven. The Chatham raven and the New Zealand raven were both found in New Zealand. The Pied raven was only found on the Faroe Islands of Denmark and was hunted to extinction for contrary reasons. The Pied raven was both valued as an interesting collectible, and exterminated as a pest.

Answer: Corvus

The raven's genus is "corvus" which refers to the sound of the birds call. "Corax" is the common raven's species, and "corvidae" is the family, while "capensis" is a species of carnivorous plant.

Answer: Chainsaw

Ronan names his dream raven Chainsaw. In turn, she names him Kerac.
Published in 2012, "The Raven Boys" is the first book in a cycle of young adult literature centered on a group of boarding school boys, a small town girl, and her family of psychics in an magical, mythic adventure.

Answer: Seagull

In several myths from indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast, Raven is conscripted by the other animals to persuade Seagull to open his box and let out the light. The other animals each opened their boxes thus creating the mountains, the trees, etc., but Seagull covets the light. Raven first attempts to trick Seagull, and eventually pricks Seagulls foot until pained, he releases the box, and the world is completed by the light.

Interestingly, the common raven (corvus corax) is among the only animal species known to make and use toys. The common raven is known to use twigs for social play, and to use plastic lids as a slide on a snowy rooftop!

FYI, the Yellow-Bellied Prairie Chicken is a bird featured along with the Resplendent Bayou Swinger, the Mangrove Penguin, the Fixed-Wing Falcon, and others in "Another Field Guide to Little Known & Seldom-Seen Birds of North America" by Ben, Cathryn, & John Sill. I highly recommend it!

Answer: Odin

Odin was the ruler of Asgard in Norse mythology, and generally depicted with two ravens. Apollo was also depicted with ravens, symbolic of prophecy and good luck, but was a deity of Greek mythology.

Answer: Thought and Memory

Odin's ravens were his eyes and ears, and as carrion birds, ravens are associated with death and decay. However, in Old Norse Huginn means thought and Muninn means memory.

Answer: NFL

The Baltimore Ravens are a football team, so named in honor of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven." Poe lived for a time in Baltimore, and was buried there when he died in 1849.
NHL is and acronym for the National Hockey League, MLB is an acronym for Major League Baseball (as well as main lesson book for all you Waldorf schoolers out there!), and ACBL is an acronym for the American Contract Bridge League.

Answer: Roac

Roac, spelled in the original with an umlaut over the "a" is the leader of the Ravens of the Loneley Mountain in "The Hobbit." Roac's father was Carc, while Thorondor is the Lord of Eagles in the First Age, whose name translates from the Elven language Sindarin, featured in "The Simarillion."

Answer: Charles Dickens and Florence Welch

Barnaby Rudge is a character in "Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty" by Charles Dickens, which featured a talking bird and inspired Poe. Elizabeth Barrett's work influenced the style of "The Raven." I don't know if Captain Beefheart or Kesha were ever inspired by Poe, but "Bird Song" by Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine is strikingly similar to "The Raven!"