No Context Crow #78: Swamp Crow

WIP

🪶

I thought I had a pretty good grasp on what the mythical creature valravn from Danish folklore is but after diving deeper it’s more versatile than expected.

The version I was originally told is that a valravn (means “war raven” or more precisely “raven of the fallen” as in fallen people on the battlefield) is a normal raven that gained human intelligence by eating the flesh or brain of dead people after a battle. With the gift of intelligence also came the curse of only being able to fly at night. The only way to gain the ability to move around in daylight was to eat the heart of a young boy. Then the valravn would be able to turn into either a human or a raven/wolf beast and go wherever it wanted whenever it pleased.

But in the most well known song about valravens they’re all human men who were turned into ravens by either a witch or a female troll. A women was told her husband could only turn back if he drank her blood so she asks another valravn for help. It agrees in exchange for the life of her first son as soon as he has spoken his first three words, suggesting an infant would be too young.

In yet another version the valravn is a human who cannibalised dead people on the battlefield and turned into a raven or a human/raven/wolf monster that could only travel at night but would continue the cannibalism until it ate a young boy at which point it would be able to turn back to a human form.

So take your pick. You want a weird creepy raven that has decided it wants to be a human? Or a tragic story of someone who can only turn back by hurting their beloved? Or perhaps a wendigo style creature who became a monster after committing the taboo of cannibalism? Or maybe a mix? Because clearly Danish people in the past weren’t too worried about the valravn canon. The only generally agreed on lore is that they’re always male, can only travel at night and they eat humans or drink human blood to reach their final form or be cured.

Recently I realised how good these two go together. I didn't intend for them to fit as perfectly together as they do, but we love a happy accident. Even the text and the position not to mention the colours are just

perfect.

Illuminated Letter I made for my grapic design calss.

mythology aesthetics

NACHTKRAPP

In German folklore, the Nachtkrapp (“night raven”) is a giant, nocturnal raven-like bird. Similar legends exist in Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Russia. The Nachtkrapp leaves its hiding place at night to hunt. If it is seen by little children, it puts them in his bag and takes them away, or abducts them into its nest and devours them. The Guter Nachtkrapp (“good night raven”) is a rare benevolent version of the tale, who enters childrens’ rooms and gently sings them to sleep.

#inktober day 21 the #nachtkrapp , a great bird that would catch children who stayed out late at night 🦅 #intoberchallenge #inktober2018 #inktoberday21 #ofmonstersandmyths @joyfulshadeofblack #mandala #mandala_art #mandalas #beautiful_mandalas #mandala_sharing #mandaladesign #dailydoodle #dailysketch #inkdrawing #inksketch #markerdrawing #markerpen #birds #artistofinstagram #artistsoninstagram #artistsofinstagram #independantartist #bird_lovers #raven #ravens #jujutreats #followthejuju (at Lincoln, Lincolnshire) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpNdbhnhMMn/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=h4lrv6oyoqxh

Valravn | Prey | 2020

Finnish Black Metal

https://primitivereaction.bandcamp.com/album/prey

Cuddle Puddle

Re-draw of one of my spouse's old sketches!

OC Muse: Valdhaern

Image Credit: Thevan and the raven monster by ptitvink

Valdhaern. Many have heard the name of this man-turned-raven, or was he a raven-turned-man? No one truly knows, but no one truly dares to ask. All they know is that he is a man with the trappings of a monster. Valdhaern is rumored to be first of the Valravn, carrion birds of Hel herself that scour the world of the living to devour the flesh of fallen warriors, kings, and lords alike. The life of a Valravn, a raven of the slain, is one of endless hunger and wanting, a wanting that can never be sated.

Valdhaern, first of the Valravn, is one stricken with the most grievous of hunger; not for flesh, blood, or death. But for love. In life, Valdhaern was a loving husband, and his wife Leile was bearing their first child. One night, however, a shriek awoke Valdhaern from his sleep, and awoke to the horrifying sight of his wife, stomach torn open, and her child consumed by ravens. Crying in outrage, he’d chase the carrion birds away, but to no avail. His beloved Leile and child were long dead.

Storming into the night, Valdhaern begged and cried for a release from the inevitable grief that’d settle in. However, fate was malicious to his desires, and as the ravens flocked to his body, they did not consume him, but rather cloaked him in their bodies. Clothes turned to a feathery cloak, skin turned grey and leathery, his face elongating to a ravenous beak, and fingernails turned to sharp, crooked claws. He was now the first of the Valravn. Neither man nor raven. And his hunger is forever the bottomless void in his heart that cries out for a beloved one once more.

Koder på snor