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Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore' Trivia Quiz

Edgar Allan Poe's 1845 poem "The Raven" was more about some woman named Lenore than it was about the bird. Let's fix that (and complete my challenge)!

A multiple-choice quiz by john_sunseri. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
john_sunseri

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
322,450

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
681

Awards
Top 35% Quiz

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. "Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December..."

In cold weather, ravens tend to flock during the day to search for food, and to roost in large numbers. What is their behavior the rest of the year? Hint

They stay in small groups or family units

They flock in all seasons

They are almost always solitary

They hibernate most of the year

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. "And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain..."

Ravens don't come in purple (barring the occasional gloss on their black plumage), but there is a relative of the Common Raven which has a large patch of white feathers from its shoulders down over its breast. Can you name this bird? Hint

Rook

Pied Crow

Chihuahuan Raven

Pan-galactic Gargle Blaster

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. "Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before..."

What does it signify, according to dream interpreters, when you dream of a raven? Hint

Betrayal, Disharmony, Misfortune and Death

You are Shielding your Feelings

Tranquility and Contentment at Home

Luck, Magical Power and Success

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. "In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore..."

The raven is the symbol for a particular saint. A priest named Florentius attempted to poison the holy man, but the holy man bade a raven take the tainted loaf of bread away and put it where no one could come across it, which the bird did. Do you know this saint? Hint

St. Amaro

St. Glinglin

St. Benedict

Grobian

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. "Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door..."

'Pallas' is Athena, the goddess of wisdom from Greek mythology. Ravens have been connected with wisdom in other mythologies as well. Which god has two ravens (named Huginn and Muninn, 'Thought' and 'Memory' or 'Mind') which perch on his shoulders and fly off to gather information for him? Hint

Krishna

Jupiter

Odin

Anu

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. "Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!"

Gilead is a biblical land. Are ravens mentioned in the Bible?

Yes

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. "Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn..."

'Aidenn' is a variation of 'Eden' or 'Paradise', and we can assume there were ravens there along with all the other animals. Where on Earth would you be very, very unlikely to find a Common Raven? Hint

Queen Maud Land

Oregon

London

Pakistan

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. "Take thy beak from out my heart and take thy form from off my door!"

What best describes a raven's beak? Hint

Large, with a slight curve

Thin, slender and pointed

Pink, with a black tip

Sharp, hooked, poisonous

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. "And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting..."

Assuming the raven sits there for the rest of his natural life, how long might he be sitting there? Hint

Five years

A million, billion years

Eighty years

Forty years

NEXT>

Question 10 of 10

10. "Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore.'"

Poe's raven is the only literary animal to have a professional sports team named after it (though I think it would be grand to have others--the New York King Kongs, maybe? Or the Bombay Babars?). What city's sports team is named the Ravens? Hint

Minneapolis (baseball)

New Orleans (basketball)

Baltimore (American football)

Los Angeles (soccer)

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December..." In cold weather, ravens tend to flock during the day to search for food, and to roost in large numbers. What is their behavior the rest of the year?

Answer: They stay in small groups or family units

Ravens are mostly monogamous, though there have been examples of intruding males visiting females while their (the females') mates are away. Younger birds are more likely to flock than older ones - they don't build nests and start laying eggs until they have their own territory, and when they don't have their own territory it's easier to find food in flocks.

2. "And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain..." Ravens don't come in purple (barring the occasional gloss on their black plumage), but there is a relative of the Common Raven which has a large patch of white feathers from its shoulders down over its breast. Can you name this bird?

Answer: Pied Crow

The Pied Crow (Corvus albus) and the Common Raven (Corvus corax) are of the same genus, and the Pied Crow can mate with the Dwarf Raven. There are other subspecies of ravens with white markings, or a white-tipped beak, but the pied bird's difference in plumage with the common raven is most striking. 'Pied' means 'having different colors'.

3. "Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before..." What does it signify, according to dream interpreters, when you dream of a raven?

Answer: Betrayal, Disharmony, Misfortune and Death

There are other interpretations of raven dreams, but none of them are very pleasant. The mildest one I could find was 'the end of a relationship, project or phase before a new one begins'. Better to dream about bunnies.

4. "In there stepped a stately raven of the saintly days of yore..." The raven is the symbol for a particular saint. A priest named Florentius attempted to poison the holy man, but the holy man bade a raven take the tainted loaf of bread away and put it where no one could come across it, which the bird did. Do you know this saint?

Answer: St. Benedict

From the Dialogues of St. Gregory: "The man of God (Benedict) again and again bide him, saying: "Take it up without fear, and throw it where no man may find it." At length, with much ado, the crow took it up, and flew away, and after three hours, having dispatched the loaf, he returned again, and received his usual allowance from the man of God." The other three saints are fictional.

5. "Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door..." 'Pallas' is Athena, the goddess of wisdom from Greek mythology. Ravens have been connected with wisdom in other mythologies as well. Which god has two ravens (named Huginn and Muninn, 'Thought' and 'Memory' or 'Mind') which perch on his shoulders and fly off to gather information for him?

Answer: Odin

Odin, according to the "Prose Edda", is known as the 'raven-god'. He gave Huginn and Muninn the gift of human speech (kind of like the raven in Poe's poem) so that they could report back to him on all the happenings in the world, which made Odin "very wise in his lore".

And 'lore' rhymes with 'nevermore'. Hmmm...could Poe's bird have been one of Odin's companions?

6. "Is there - is there balm in Gilead? - tell me - tell me, I implore!" Gilead is a biblical land. Are ravens mentioned in the Bible?

Answer: yes

Ravens are mentioned several times. In Leviticus and Deuteronomy, it is forbidden to eat the birds (because they're carrion eaters themselves), but probably the most famous mention of a raven is in Genesis, when Noah sent one out to see if there was any dry land about. It returned empty-beaked, so Noah waited and sent out a dove the next time.

7. "Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn..." 'Aidenn' is a variation of 'Eden' or 'Paradise', and we can assume there were ravens there along with all the other animals. Where on Earth would you be very, very unlikely to find a Common Raven?

Answer: Queen Maud Land

The Common Raven tends to range in the Northern Hemisphere. They've been spotted on Everest, in Greenland, all through Europe and Russia, and in Northern Africa. Other areas of the world have their own species of raven, but Queen Maud Land is in Antarctica, and that's not good territory for the black birds. Penguins, yes. Ravens, no.

8. "Take thy beak from out my heart and take thy form from off my door!" What best describes a raven's beak?

Answer: Large, with a slight curve

Ravens have larger, heavier beaks than crows. Since they'll eat practically everything (up to and including carrion), a large, slightly curved beak is the most practical form for them. The birds with thinner pointed beaks tend to be nectar-eaters. Flamingos have the pink beaks. And hopefully no birds have poisonous beaks--though if any did, Poe probably would have used them in his stories.

9. "And the raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting..." Assuming the raven sits there for the rest of his natural life, how long might he be sitting there?

Answer: Forty years

Ravens in captivity or that are protected by keepers (like the famous ravens in the Tower of London) have lived longer than forty years. The average lifespan of a wild raven is much shorter - about 13 years.

10. "Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore.'" Poe's raven is the only literary animal to have a professional sports team named after it (though I think it would be grand to have others--the New York King Kongs, maybe? Or the Bombay Babars?). What city's sports team is named the Ravens?

Answer: Baltimore (American football)

Poe lived much of his life in Baltimore, and is buried there. When the Cleveland Browns relocated to Baltimore in 1996, Cleveland got to retain all the team colors, records and (most importantly) the name 'Browns', so the team ran an election in its new city, and the citizens of Baltimore chose 'Ravens' to honor their literary son.

There are three raven mascots named 'Edgar', 'Allan' and 'Poe', and the team won the Super Bowl in 2000.

Source: Author john_sunseri

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Exit10 before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

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