Question · Language / Norse
What Is the Norse Word for Raven?
[lore] The Old Norse word for raven is hrafn (plural hrafnar). It is a masculine noun of the first declension, cognate with Old English hræfn, Old High German hraban, and modern German Rabe. The word is the source of the name Odin's ravens (Huginn and Muninn), personal names like Hrafnkel, and many Scandinavian and Icelandic place names.
The Word: hrafn
[lore] Old Norse hrafn is recorded in the major reference works for the language. Geir Zoëga's Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic (1910) gives: hrafn, m. — raven. The plural is hrafnar (nominative), hrafna (genitive plural, as in hrafna-guð, "raven-god" — an Odin byname).1
| Form | Old Norse | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Singular nominative | hrafn | Standard form |
| Plural nominative | hrafnar | "the ravens" |
| Genitive plural | hrafna | Used in compounds |
| Genitive singular | hrafns | e.g. in personal names |
Pronunciation
[lore] Old Norse orthography uses hr- to indicate a voiceless (aspirated) r-sound — a sound that no longer exists in modern English. The initial sequence is a strongly breathed H followed immediately by R, then the vowel a (short, as in "father"), then vn (the f in Old Norse was pronounced as a v between vowels and before voiced consonants).
A reasonable modern approximation: HRAVN (rhymes approximately with "drawn" but with a breathy H-R onset). Modern Icelandic speakers pronounce it closer to HRAPBN (the f has become a stop). Many scholars reading aloud use "RAVN" for simplicity.
Etymology and Cognates
[lore] Hrafn descends from Proto-Germanic *hrabnaz, the reconstructed common ancestor of all the Germanic raven words. The cognates include:1
- Old English: hræfn (modern English "raven")
- Old High German: hraban / raban (modern German Rabe)
- Old Saxon: hraban
- Gothic: *hraban (reconstructed)
- Modern Icelandic: hrafn (unchanged)
- Modern Norwegian / Danish: ravn
- Modern Swedish: korp (from a different root — *kruppaz)
The root is likely imitative of the raven's call — a Proto-Indo-European root *ker- / *kor- associated with harsh crying sounds, related to Latin corvus (raven/crow) and Greek korax (raven).
Use in Odin's Titles and Names
[lore] The word hrafn is central to Odin's raven-associations. His ravens are named Huginn ("Thought") and Muninn ("Memory"), recorded in Grímnismál stanza 20 (Codex Regius). Odin's by-names include:
- Hrafnaguð — "raven-god" (genitive plural hrafna-)
- Hrafnáss — "raven-Áss" (raven-god of the Æsir)
- Hrafnfreistuðr — "raven-tester/tempter" (a more obscure byname)
These bynames are listed in the Prose Edda (Snorri Sturluson, c. 1220 CE) and in þulur (mnemonic lists of heiti — poetic synonyms) appended to the Skáldskaparmál.2
Place Names and Personal Names
[lore] Hrafn is extremely common in Old Norse place names and personal names, reflecting the raven's prominence in Norse culture:
- Personal names: Hrafnkel (raven-kettle; subject of Hrafnkels saga), Hrafn (a common male name), Hrafnhildr (female name)
- Icelandic place names: Hrafnagjá (Raven Gorge), Hrafntinnusker (Raven Obsidian Rock)
- Norwegian place names: Ramnes, Ramsberg (from hrafn-)
- The navigator: Hrafna-Flóki (Raven-Flóki) — Flóki Vilgerðarson who used ravens to navigate to Iceland, recorded in Landnámabók. See: Raven-Flóki and Iceland
In Norse Poetry — Kennings for the Raven
[lore] Old Norse skaldic poetry used kennings — compound periphrastic expressions — for the raven. Common raven kennings include:2
- Yggs / Óðins gjóðr — "Odin's hawk/kite"
- valkjósandi — "chooser of the slain" (applied to ravens and also to valkyries)
- svart-fjaðraðr — "black-feathered one"
- blóð-ari — "blood-eagle" is a separate term; ravens in battle poetry are valkyrjur hræs (corpse-valkyries)
The raven also appears in the beasts of battle formula — the conventional trio of raven, eagle, and wolf who await a battlefield — found across Old Norse and Old English poetry. See: Odin the Raven God.
Related Pages
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Old Norse word for raven?
The Old Norse word for raven is hrafn (masculine noun). The plural is hrafnar. It is the standard word for the Common Raven (Corvus corax) in Old Norse texts, place names, and personal names. The word is cognate with Old English hræfn and modern German Rabe.
How do you pronounce hrafn in Old Norse?
Old Norse pronunciation: "HRAHVN" (the h is aspirated before r, so the initial sound is like a strongly breathed-out H followed by R). The vowel is short, and the final -n is a sonorant. Modern Icelandic preserves this as "HRAPBN" (approximate). Many English speakers use a simplified "RAHN" or "HRAVN".
What is the modern Icelandic word for raven?
Modern Icelandic retains hrafn (singular) and hrafnar (plural), very close to the Old Norse form. Modern Norwegian uses ravn, Swedish uses korp, Danish uses ravn. All are descended from the same Proto-Germanic root.
Sources
- Zoëga, G.T. (1910). A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic. Clarendon Press. — primary lexical reference for hrafn and declension forms.
- Faulkes, A. (trans., 1987). Edda (Snorri Sturluson). Everyman. — Odin's bynames (Gylfaginning ch. 20) and raven kennings (Skáldskaparmál).
- Simek, R. (1993). Dictionary of Northern Mythology. D.S. Brewer. — by-names and raven symbolism in Old Norse.
[lore] named cultural/historical source