Ravensong: A Natural And Fabulous History Of Ravens And Crows (edit title)

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Liked It Rated 5 stars “In Ravensong: A Natural and Fabulous History of Ravens and Crows Feher-Elston explores ravens and crows from Native American myths to naturalist science, explaining that we cannot fully understand ravens and crows from a naturalist’s point of view without first “return[ing] to the world of myth,”...” see full review » see other reviews »

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  • Rated 3 stars

  “Seems more geared to a novice crow fan with a middel school education than an adult lifetime lover of all things corvid; however will still add it to my collection if only for the lovely pen and ink illustrations.”

  CassandraCrowfae wrote this review Friday, March 21 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No

  
  
  • Rated 5 stars

  “In Ravensong: A Natural and Fabulous History of Ravens and Crows Feher-Elston explores ravens and crows from Native American myths to naturalist science, explaining that we cannot fully understand ravens and crows from a naturalist’s point of view without first “return[ing] to the world of myth,” which for some, “requires the suspension of reality” (11). Thus, Ravensong begins as we explore the world of ravens and crows in the “Myth Time.”
  
  One Native American myth is from the Northwest Coast, where Raven uses his clever trick of shape shifting to steal the sun from a carefully-guarded, multilayered box and carries it skyward giving light and life to the Earth. Another chapter includes Crow’s role in the Ghost Dance, a nationwide attempt among Native Americans during the latter 1800s to unify and survive in their shattered world, which ended in the infamous massacre at Wounded Knee. And in another chapter the author explains how Edgar Allen Poe’ s poem, “The Raven,” reinforced Americans’ d a r k perceptions of the corvids, an image established in medieval Europe. But most importantly the chapters devoted to crows and ravens as a species show that the corvids are the most intelligent of birds with a unique social life to boot.
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  Brenna Corbit wrote this review Monday, December 31 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No