What is Said About Raven

Many of the people of the world know Raven. Some of them say that Raven is a trickster that enjoys playing pranks on others. (If that is so, then perhaps all people know Raven, because he tricks some of them into believing he is someone else; it is difficult to be sure.)

Others say that Raven is a seeker of knowledge, and that they fly hither and yon, across the world, seeking out all that is true. It is said that Raven can see through any lie, so that no truth can be hidden from them. At least some believe that Raven will whisper the truths they find into the ears of gods and humans, even if those learning the truths would rather not know those truths, and would be happier instead believing a falsehood.

Many of those with a greater degree of aesthetics than I possess say that Raven is ugly. Her feathers are not colorful, and are monotonous in hue. They say that her voice is grating and guttural, incapable of carrying even the simplest of tunes. Further, they say that Raven’s taste in victuals is undiscerning at best, and deplorable at worst. Those people are probably correct. (But given that beauty lies in the mind of the observer, how can we be completely certain?)

Raven is intelligent; there are some that say he is too intelligent for his own good. That in his cleverness, many have been able to turn Raven’s pranks back upon him and so take from him things that Raven did not wish to give them. (Others advise that it is folly to game or wager with Raven, and that those who do will inevitably lose; perhaps not knowing what they have lost, or how.)

Raven and Crow are the same, but different. Many people have trouble telling the difference between Crow and Raven; sometimes people who tell stories of Raven unknowingly tell of things Crow has done, or in telling of Crow relate things that Raven has done. This amuses Raven, so they do nothing to help people tell the difference between them and Crow. Crow does not help people tell the difference either. It is hard to know why Crow does this; she has never said why (and I have never asked her.) I have never heard Crow chuckling about this, but maybe she is laughing on the inside.

There may be many other things that are said about Raven. But I have never heard them, or don’t believe them to be true (or worth retelling,) or I have forgotten them, or mistakenly believe that it is something said about someone else. (About Crow perhaps, or Dragon, or Cyborg.)

If I hear more, or change my mind, or remember, or think more clearly, I might write more about Raven one day.