Blackbird Pie For 'Raven'ous Readers Quiz

Answer: Crow

In "The Raven and the Crow", Aesop tells of a crow who was envious of a raven because of the high regard afforded to it by men as an omen of the future. The crow wanted to be held in such esteem as that of the raven. It came to pass that the crow saw some men travelling in her direction one day so she perched herself in the branch of a tree. As the travellers passed by her the crow caw-cawed in the loudest voice she could muster. Upon hearing the crow, the travellers were worried that the strange sound was an ill omen. When they realised the sound came from a crow and not a raven, they dismissed it and continued travelling because the call of a crow meant nothing to them. As with all Aesop's fables, there is a moral to this story: "Those who pretend to be something they are not, only make themselves ridiculous."

Much of what has been written about the life of Aesop is rather ambiguous. What is generally agreed upon however is that he was a Thracian slave who lived on the island of Samos during the sixth century B.C. Whether he ever wrote his fables down is uncertain. No evidence has been found to suggest that this was the case, so it is more likely he communicated his fables orally. The raven featured in other fables written by Aesop, most notably in "The Fox and the Raven" and "The Raven and the Swan", but different interpretations through the centuries have seen writers employ their artistic licence by replacing the raven with the crow in these stories.

Answer: Pliny the Elder

In all fairness to Pliny, he never actually said that he believed this himself, but instead continued by adding the thoughts of Aristotle that it was not true and the "billing" of a pair of ravens was simply kissing. As bizarre as it sounds, the statement in the question was only mildly fanciful when compared to what followed; "...if women with child eat a raven's egg, they bear the infant through the mouth..." and also, if the eggs of a raven were merely brought into the house of a pregnant woman, then the delivery of the child would be sure to be a difficult one. Pliny also makes a point on the auspicious status of the raven in society by saying that if a raven swallows his croak, it is a sure sign of ill omen.

When he completed it in the second half of the first century A.D., Pliny's "Natural History" was one of the largest and most amibitious works of ancient Roman literature. Comprising thirty-seven volumes in total and, in Pliny's own words, twenty-thousand "noteworthy facts", it was the "Encyclopaedia Britannica" of its day and it is the only known work of Pliny to survive. "Natural History" covered the whole gamut of what was discovered and known at that point in history. From astronomy, geography, zoology, plants and minerals to diseases and curative medicines, it was a veritable treasure trove of information. Pliny's curiosity in all things of nature eventually led to his downfall. Whilst commanding a Roman naval fleet in 79 A.D., he noticed the dark cloud that was forming over the erupting Mount Vesuvius and couldn't resist investigating and taking notes on such a sight. Within twenty-four hours, Pliny was overcome by the gases released by Mount Vesuvius and died.

Answer: Elijah

This Bible story occurs during the reign of the wicked King Ahab over the northern tribes of Israel. Influenced by his equally wicked wife Jezebel, King Ahab forbid his people from worshipping God and instead introduced the pagan god Baal, a deity of Jezebel's Phoenician homeland, for idolatry purposes.

In addition to this, they ordered the murder of many of the priests of Israel, an act which incurred the wrath of God. It was at this time that the prophet Elijah was sent to foretell of a drought that would be inflicted on the lands and people within King Ahab's realm, a drought that could only be lifted at the word of Elijah himself, and only when Ahab repented and recognised the true God. Elijah was then commanded by God to hide himself by the brook known as Cherith from which he could drink the water and where ravens would drop food to him each morning and evening.

Answer: Lady Macbeth

Macbeth, the Thane of Glamis and a general in the army of Duncan, the King of Scotland, was visited by three prophesying witches. The first of their prophecies was that Macbeth would become the Thane of Cawdor and the second that he would become king. Soon after, the first prophecy was realised when Macbeth was named Thane of Cawdor when the previous owner of the title, Macdonwald, was stripped of it for being a traitor in the war against Norway and Ireland that the Scots were fighting. Realising that this prophecy had been fulfilled, Macbeth's mind turned to the second prophecy but was content to let fate take its course and not do anything to influence it: "If chance will have me king, why, chance may crown me, without my stir."

Lady Macbeth was not so willing to leave matters to chance. After reading a letter from her husband describing his meeting with the three witches, and being given the knowledge from a messenger that Duncan would be coming to her husband's castle that night, Lady Macbeth began to plot the demise of the Scottish king.

In Lady Macbeth's soliloquy, Shakespeare has used the raven in its classical symbolic form as a bird of ill omen, croaking the impending death that would be visited upon Duncan so much as to make itself hoarse. The soliloquy continued with Lady Macbeth working herself into a murderous frenzy and asking to be stripped of her femininity that would prevent her from committing such an act: "unsex me here; and fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full of direst cruelty." She had already concluded that she must kill Duncan herself as Macbeth was "too full o' th' milk of human kindness" to do it.

Answer: The Brothers Grimm

"The Seven Ravens" was one of eighty-six stories published in the first of two volumes of "Kinder- und Hausmarchen", translated as "Children's and Household Tales", in 1812. This was the first time that the German brothers, and collectors of folk stories, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm had collaborated on such a work. Amongst the other stories found within the first volume are the well known "Cinderella", "Hansel and Gretel" and "Rapunzel."

"The Seven Ravens" tells of a husband and wife who, after having seven sons, are finally blessed with a baby daughter. The girl was very ill though so her father sent his eldest son to fetch water for her to baptised. The other brothers followed as they all wanted to be the one to bring the water but in their haste they all dropped their pitchers in the well. They were too afraid to return home and their father eventually cursed that he wished they would all be turned to ravens, a curse that eventuated.

The daughter grew strong and healthy and when she learnt of her brothers, and the fate that befell them, she went in search of them. She travelled to the ends of the Earth and came to the sun, but it was too hot and she ran away. She then came to the moon, but it was too cold and again she ran away. When she came to the stars, the morning star gave her a chicken bone and told her to go to the Glass Mountain and use the bone to open the door of the castle wherein her brothers would be found.

When she got to the castle she realised she had lost the chicken bone and so cut off her own little finger with which to open the door. She was met by a dwarf who told her the ravens were not home but she was welcome to wait for their return. The dwarf laid the table with seven plates of food and seven glasses of water from each of which the girl ate and drank small quantities, and while doing so a ring that belonged to her parents fell into the seventh glass. Upon the return of the ravens, she hid herself behind a door. Each raven ate and drank their share and remarked that somebody else had already sampled their meals. When the seventh raven came upon the ring in his glass he recognised it as belonging to his parents and wished aloud that their sister would come to rescue them. Hearing this she came out from behind the door and hugged each raven in turn and they all returned to their human form.

Answer: Barnaby Rudge

First appearing in serial form in 1841 under the full title "Barnaby Rudge - A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty", this was the fifth Dickens novel to be published. Like much of Dickens's work, "Barnaby Rudge" is full of plots, sub-plots, intriguing twists and turns and a cast of colourful and unique characters. It is centred around the residents of the small village of Chigwell, lying just outside the city of London, and the influence the anti-Catholic Gordon riots of 1780 had on their lives, either as participants in or victims of these riots. Amongst them is Barnaby Rudge, best described as a good-hearted simpleton, and his pet raven Grip. Barnaby and Grip were inseperable, wherever one went, the other followed, usually with Grip leading the way. When Barnaby's naivete led to him being coaxed into joining the rioters, Grip was right by his side, even when he was eventually locked up in Newgate Prison with an impending death sentence. They were both saved however by Gabriel Varden, the locksmith of Chigwell and a friend of Barnaby.

The character of Grip is more than just a figment of Charles Dickens's imagination. He was inspired by the author's own pet raven, also called Grip, which was given to him by a friend. This real Grip was fond of burying coins and pieces of cheese in Dickens's gardens and, like the fictitious Grip, had the ability to mimic human speech. Unlike the fictitious Grip though, its fate was not so bright. During renovations at the Dickens home, Grip ingested some chips of lead paint and subsequently died. Dickens had Grip stuffed and mounted and kept him in his home, but when Dickens too passed away Grip was sold at auction.

Answer: Writing-desk

"Why is a raven like a writing-desk?"

This question is asked of Alice by the Hatter at the bizarre tea-party which features in chapter seven of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." No answer is provided to Alice however when she requests it of the Hatter, he simply replies "I haven't the slighest idea." It might not seem to make much sense asking a riddle that has no answer, but not much of this book does. In this chapter alone, titled "A Mad Tea-Party", Alice meets not only the Hatter, who is never referred to as mad, but also the March Hare, who is referred to as mad, and the narcoleptic Dormouse. Conversations with these characters include the Hatter's explanation of Time being a him, not an it, and the Dormouse's story of three sisters who lived at the bottom of a treacle-well. "Curiouser and curiouser" as Alice would say.

Following repeated enquiries made of him as to whether there was any answer to the riddle, Lewis Carroll included a preface in an 1896 reprinting of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." He stated that the riddle was intentionally written so as to have no answer but did offer the following possibilities:
"Because it can produce a few notes, though they are very flat; and it is nevar (never) put with the wrong end in front."
If you can see the double meanings in these answers, then you might agree that the riddle may well be the most sensible thing in this otherwise nonsensical book.

Answer: The Hobbit

The success and popularity of Tolkien's "The Hobbit, or There and Back Again" when it was first published in 1937 led to him writing the follow up trilogy of novels "The Lord of the Rings." In it we are introduced for the first time to some of the characters who would later play integral roles in the latter work. Amongst these are Bilbo Baggins, the title character, Gandalf the wizard and Gollum.

The story follows Bilbo, a band of thirteen dwarves and, for the earlier part at least, Gandalf, on a quest to reclaim a cache of treasure within the Lonely Mountain, the former dwarf kingdom, guarded by the dragon Smaug. During their journey they encounter many inhabitants of the lands including trolls, goblins, elves and Lake-men. It was during their meeting with the goblins that Bilbo was separated from the rest of the party and found himself in an underground tunnel with a lake. Here he met Gollum for the first time and found the ring of invisibility whilst engaged in a riddle contest with him. Of course this is the ring that became the focal point in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

When they finally made it to Lonely Mountain, Bilbo encountered Smaug the dragon and stole a cup from the treasure he guarded. Believing that the Lake-men had aided and abetted Bilbo, Smaug flew to their town with the intention of destroying it but was killed himself by an archer in the process. It was after this that Roac, "chief of the great ravens of the Mountain" appeared, for ravens had once been messenger birds for dwarves. Roac told Bilbo and the dwarves of the death of Smaug but also warned them that armies of elves and Lake-men were gathering to come and lay claim to what they felt was their rightful share of the treasure.

Answer: Animal Farm

In George Orwell's classic short novel "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story", Moses the raven only appears in a few brief passages but his role in the story is no less significant when interpreted from a symbolic point of view. The story itself, in which the animals of Manor Farm stage a rebellion to overthrow their human master Mr. Jones, is representative of the rise of Communism in the Soviet Union prior to World War II, and each character, human and beast alike, represents a real person, group of people or an ideal or institution. Moses himself, who was not liked by the other animals because he never did any work, symbolised religion generally and the Russian Orthodox Church more specifically.

Moses passed his days flying around the farm and telling the other animals about a place far beyond the clouds he had once flown to called Sugarcandy Mountain. There, he told them, animals didn't have to work for any master as every day was a Sunday and "clover was in season all the year round, and lump sugar and linseed cake grew on the hedges", an obvious allusion to Heaven. When the other animals finally staged their rebellion and drove Mr. and Mrs. Jones from Manor Farm, Moses too was seen flying away.

Many years passed before Moses returned, and many changes had come about on Animal Farm as it became known. Led by the pigs, with the Stalinesque porcine character Napoleon at the helm, the animals had instituted their own Communistic political system known as Animalism, worked the fields to produce crops to feed themselves and developed their own doctrine based around "The Seven Commandments." But some of the animals became disillusioned when they saw the pigs violating the commandments and adopting behaviours and characteristics of their former human oppressors. They began to think that their lives were no better than what they were before. Although he was still not particularly liked, the pigs tolerated Moses's return. They considered his stories of Sugarcandy Mountain as beneficial to keeping the animals working hard around the farm with the lure of a heavenly afterlife awaiting those who did.

Answer: The Twits

Mr. and Mrs. Twit were a grotesque and ugly couple who had ugly natures to match their looks. They were fond of playing practical jokes on each other, such as dropping a glass eye into a mug of beer, putting a frog in the other's bed and adding earthworms to a meal of spaghetti. They also had a tendency towards being cruel to animals. Mr. Twit kept a family of monkeys locked in a cage and made them stand on their hands for hours at a time because he had a dream of creating the world's first "Great Upside Down Monkey Circus." Every Wednesday night the Twits dined on bird pie, so on Tuesdays Mr. Twit would paint the branches of the dead tree in his garden with "HUGTIGHT" glue. Any birds that came to roost in the tree would be stuck there for Mr. Twit to collect for his pie.

It came to pass that the monkeys and birds took their revenge on Mr. and Mrs. Twit. When the Twits ventured out one day, the animals gained entrance to their house and, with a bucket of "HUGTIGHT" glue, stuck all of the carpet and furnishings to the ceiling. When the Twits returned home, the ravens swooped on them with glue laden paintbrushes in their claws and smeared a big streak of glue onto the tops of their heads. Upon entering their house and discovering everything upside down, the Twits thought it was themselves who were the wrong way around. They decided that standing on their heads was the only way to remedy this and when they did so they became stuck to the floor and eventually shrank away to nothing.