Note 340 — Chapter II · THE LANDFALL—FISHING FLEET—TO REYKJAVIK.
Reading edition
Raven—old German, Hraban; modern, Rabe; Icel. Hrafn (pron. Hrabn); Anglo-Saxon, Hræfn; Dan. Ravn; and Slav. Vran—is derived (says Max Müller, “Science of Languages,” Longmans, 1862) from the Sanskrit Rn or Krn, “to cry,” whence “raucus,” and other kindred words. Like the pigeon, the genus Corvus (Corax and Cornix) crops up in all mythology, even where least expected; witness the Hierocorax of Mithras and the marvellous changes by which Apollo and Athene became crows.