Norse Lore · NRS·09

Hrafn: The Old Norse Word for Raven

[lore] Hrafn is the Old Norse word for the Common Raven (Corvus corax). It descends from Proto-Germanic *hrabnaz, related to Old English hrǣfn (modern English "raven"), Old High German hraban, and Gothic hrabns. The word appears throughout Old Norse poetry and prose — in the names of Odin's ravens (Huginn and Muninn), in personal names, and in dozens of place-names across Scandinavia and Iceland.

Etymology — From Proto-Germanic to Modern Languages

[lore] The Proto-Germanic root *hrabnaz (raven) is reconstructed by linguists from the parallel forms found across early Germanic languages:¹

Old Norse: hrafn
Old English: hrǣfn → Middle English raven → Modern English "raven"
Old High German: hraban, raban
Old Saxon: hraban
Gothic: hrabns

The word is not etymologically connected to Latin corvus (which gives the scientific genus name Corvus). The Germanic branch and the Latin branch are parallel, not derived from each other.

The root is ultimately onomatopoeic — it reflects the deep, croaking call of the raven. Compare the similar principle in Latin corvus, which is likewise derived from the raven's call (from the verb crocire, to croak).

Hrafn in Old Norse Poetry and Mythology

[lore] The word hrafn appears frequently in Old Norse eddic and skaldic poetry, most famously in the names of Odin's two ravens:²

Huginn (hugr + suffix — "thought/mind") — Odin's raven of thought
Muninn (munr + suffix — "memory/mind") — Odin's raven of memory

See Huginn and Muninn — full chapter for the complete account.

Beyond Huginn and Muninn, the word hrafn serves as the base for a cluster of important kennings (compound metaphors) in skaldic poetry — see Ravens in eddic kennings.

Odin's title Hrafnaguð ("Raven-God" or "God of the Raven") encapsulates the intimate connection between Odin and the raven in Norse religion — see Odin the Raven-God.

Hrafn as a Personal Name

[lore] Hrafn was a common personal name in Old Norse-speaking Scandinavia and Iceland. The Landnámabók (Book of Settlements, recording Iceland's settlement in the 9th–10th centuries) mentions several settlers named Hrafn, and raven-names appear as both primary names and elements of compound names throughout the sagas.³

Notable saga characters with raven-names include:

Hrafnkell — the protagonist of Hrafnkels saga Freysgoða (Hrafnkell's Saga), one of the best-known Icelandic sagas. His name means roughly "Raven-Kettle" (the second element -ketill was a common name component).
Flóki Vilgerðarson — known as Hrafna-Flóki (Raven-Flóki), who used ravens to navigate to Iceland. See Raven-Flóki and Iceland.

Place-Names Containing Hrafn

[lore] Raven place-names are abundant across the Norse world, reflecting both the bird's ecological importance and its cultural prestige. Examples include:³

Iceland: Hrafnseyri (a farm in the Westfjords where the independence leader Jón Sigurðsson was born); Hrafnagjá (a gorge near Þingvellir)
Norway: numerous Ravn- prefixed farms and geographic features
Orkney and Shetland: Rafn- place-names reflecting Norse settlement
England: place-names with the Old English cognate hrǣfn occur in areas of heavy Norse/Anglo-Saxon presence — Ravensthorpe, Ravenscar, Ravenswood

The Bird Behind the Word

[science] The Common Raven (Corvus corax) is a year-round resident across Scandinavia and Iceland — ubiquitous on farmland, coast, and mountain alike. Its visibility and behaviour (following hunters, scavenging battlefields, its intelligence and its call) would have made it familiar to Norse-speaking people in a way that shapes the depth of its cultural presence. See Common Raven — species profile.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you pronounce hrafn?

The Old Norse pronunciation is approximately "HRAHVN" — a single syllable with a trilled or slightly aspirated initial "h" followed by a short "a" and the consonant cluster "fn" (not quite "fn" as in English; in Old Norse the r is pronounced). The initial cluster "hr-" in Old Norse was a voiceless r, so the full pronunciation approximates "RRAHVN" or "KHRAHVN" depending on dialect. Modern Icelandic "hrafn" is pronounced roughly "HRAPBN" (the "f" becomes a bilabial approximant before "n").

What modern names come from hrafn?

Many Scandinavian personal names derive from hrafn. Hrafn was itself a common Old Norse personal name. Compounds include: Hrafnkell (raven-kettle; a character in the Hrafnkels saga), Hrafnhildr (raven-battle), and Berthravn/Ravn (raven, in later Scandinavian forms). In English, "Raven" and "Ramiro" have related Proto-Germanic roots. The Norwegian surname Ravn and Icelandic Hrafn still occur.

Are there Icelandic place-names containing hrafn?

Yes. Hrafnagjá (Raven Gorge), Hrafnseyri (Raven Sandbank), and other Icelandic place-names contain hrafn. In Norway, place-names including "ravn-" (the later Norse form) are found across the country. The abundance of raven place-names across Scandinavia and Iceland reflects both the bird's ecological prevalence and its cultural importance.

Sources

Ringe, D. (2006). A Linguistic History of English, Vol. I: From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic. Oxford University Press. — Proto-Germanic *hrabnaz etymology.
Faulkes, A. (trans., 1987). Edda (Snorri Sturluson). Everyman. — eddic kennings, Huginn and Muninn passages.
Pálsson, H. & Edwards, P. (trans., 1972). Book of Settlements: Landnámabók. University of Manitoba Press. — Norse personal names and place-names.

[lore] named cultural/historical source