World Lore · MYW·29

Ravens in German Folklore: Cursed Princes, Wotan's Birds, and the Devil's Helpers

[lore] German raven tradition runs in two parallel streams: the Wotan-raven (from Germanic heroic and mythological tradition, where the god's sacred ravens watch over warriors) and the cursed-soul raven (from medieval Christian folk belief, where ravens house transformed human souls condemned to bird form). The Brothers Grimm documented both currents — the warrior tradition in learned sources, the cursed-soul tradition in fairy tales like "The Seven Ravens".

Wotan's Ravens: The Germanic Inheritance

[lore] Old High German Wuotan (later Middle High German Wotan, Modern German Wodan/Wotan) is the Germanic cognate of Old Norse Óðinn. The raven associations are inherited intact: as Odin's ravens accompany him in Scandinavia, so Wotan's ravens in continental Germanic tradition serve as his messengers and informants.¹

The connection survived Christianisation in several ways:

Persistent omen tradition: in German-speaking regions, two ravens appearing together retained associations with the divine pair Huginn and Muninn — their calls were still interpreted as omens, now detached from an overtly pagan framework.
Wild Hunt: in German folklore, Wotan leads the Wild Hunt (Wilde Jagd / Wildes Heer) — a spectral host that rides through the winter sky. Ravens accompany this hunt as presences of the restless dead and the god who commands them.
Battlefield tradition: the raven-and-eagle formula (birds of Wotan attending the slain) persists in German medieval literature, particularly in the Nibelungenlied and related heroic poetry.

The Cursed Raven: Transformed Humans

[lore] A distinctive German folkloric tradition holds that ravens are cursed human souls — people condemned to raven form through sin, parental curse, or bad death. The Brothers Grimm documented several variants in Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children's and Household Tales, 1812/1815):²

"Die sieben Raben" (The Seven Ravens, KHM 25): seven brothers are transformed into ravens by their father's angry curse. Only their youngest sister — who was not yet born when the curse was spoken — can redeem them. She undertakes a journey to the ends of the earth, loses a finger to unlock the glass mountain, and finally frees her brothers by her sacrifice. The raven-as-cursed-human here requires active redemption.
Variants across the Germanic world: similar tales of humans in raven form awaiting redemption appear in Austrian, Swiss, and Low German traditions, suggesting a widespread folk belief that ravens might be suffering souls requiring rescue.

This tradition may reflect a Christianised version of the valravn myth — the soul absorbed into the raven — reframed as a redemption narrative appropriate to Christian moral theology.

The Devil's Raven and Omen Traditions

[lore] In German peasant and village belief, ravens were also associated with the devil and his servants:¹

A raven landing on a house or calling at a window was an ill omen — often interpreted in village context as the devil or a death-spirit announcing imminent misfortune.
Witches in German folklore could transform into ravens to spy on enemies or deliver curses.
The devil himself occasionally appeared in raven form in confessional narratives and witch-trial testimony from early modern Germany.

These devil-associations coexist with the Wotan-raven tradition — a dual inheritance of pagan positive and Christian negative that creates the ambivalence characteristic of German raven symbolism.

Rabeneltern and Language

[lore] The German compound Rabeneltern (raven-parents) — meaning negligent, cruel, or uncaring parents — entered the language from medieval natural history (bestiaries describing ravens as neglectful of their young) and remains in common use today. This term encapsulates the morally negative strand of German raven tradition: a raven is an example of bad parenting, contrasted with the caring stork (Storchenvater = good parent). The same belief produced the English "unkindness of ravens" but in German was embedded in everyday vocabulary rather than remaining a heraldic term.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a raven symbolise in German folklore?

German folklore gives the raven several interrelated meanings: as Wotan's sacred bird (the Germanic/Old High German form of Odin, whose raven associations transferred directly from Norse tradition); as a cursed soul — princes, sinners, or unchristened children condemned to wander the earth in raven form until redeemed; as a devil's familiar or envoy; and as a harbinger of death and disaster in village omen tradition. The raven in German peasant belief was primarily a negative figure — associated with ill omen, curses, and the devil — while the learned and courtly tradition retained the more prestigious Wotan-raven association.

Are ravens in Grimm's fairy tales?

Yes — the Brothers Grimm's collection includes ravens as transformed humans in several tales. "The Seven Ravens" (Die sieben Raben, KHM 25) tells of seven brothers cursed by their father's angry words into raven form; their sister undertakes a quest to redeem them, eventually breaking the curse. "The Ravens" features similar themes of humans trapped in bird form awaiting release. These tales reflect the widespread German folk belief that ravens could be cursed or enchanted human souls — a belief that made the raven both feared and pitied.

What is the German word for raven and its associations?

The German word for raven is Rabe (masculine, plural Raben). The word has strong literary and cultural associations with darkness, mystery, and death — the same cluster found in Old Norse (hrafn). "Rabeneltern" (raven-parents) is a German compound meaning negligent or cruel parents — echoing the medieval belief that ravens abandon or mistreat their young (the same belief that produced the English "unkindness of ravens"). "Rabenschwarzes Haar" (raven-black hair) is a standard literary description of dark hair in German literature, paralleling the English "raven-haired".

Sources

Grimm, J. (1835). Deutsche Mythologie (German Mythology). trans. Stallybrass, J.S. (1882–1888). George Bell & Sons. — Wotan-raven tradition; Wild Hunt; German raven omen folklore; devil associations.
Grimm, J. & Grimm, W. (1812). Kinder- und Hausmärchen (Children's and Household Tales). — "Die sieben Raben" (KHM 25); cursed-soul raven transformation narratives.

[lore] named cultural/historical source