Flood Stories from Around the World
He next returned a sparrow, which also returned, and then a raven, which did not return.
After 40 days, Noah sent out a raven, which kept flying until the waters had dried up.
On the tenth day of the month of Tammuz, Noah sent forth a raven, but the raven found a corpse to devour and did not return.
On successive days, Nama released a raven, a crow, and a rook, none of which returned.
Tlingit (southern Alaska coast):Yehl, the Raven, created man, caused the plants to grow, and set the sun, moon, and stars in their places.
Raven had put a woman under the world to govern the tides.
When Raven returned, he saw fish lying high on the land, and he commanded them to turn to stone.
The only living thing he saw was a raven high on a rock, gorged with food and fast asleep.
The Mariner climbed to the raven, grabbed it, and stuck it in his sack.
The raven begged not to be cast down, saying the man would find no other surviving men without the raven's help.
He went back to the raven, reassembled its bones, and blew on them to restore the flesh and return the raven to life.
They returned to the beach, and the raven told the man to bore a hole in the belly of the pike, while it did the same to the loach.
Long ago there was a flood which killed all creatures except a single raven.
This raven, Ne-kil-stlas, was a person who could don and doff his feathers at will; he had been born of a woman who had had no husband.
She grew larger and larger and finally married the raven.
The raven showed people where they could dig for a little water and how chewing on cedar brought water into their mouths.
Ravens came and stood at the holes where the people had gone down, one Raven at each hole.
When the ground hardened, the ravens turned into people.
He sent forth a raven, but it did not return, and in punishment it was changed from white to black.
He sent a raven to determine its size, but it didn't return.
He next sent a hawk, which reported back that the raven had been eating dead bodies on the shore, so Nenebojo cursed the raven never to have anything to eat but what it steals.
Messou sent first a raven and then an otter to find a piece of earth, but neither could find any.
Some birds, including the swallow, buzzard, raven, oriole, and hummingbird, clung to the sky with their bills.
When the flood started going down, the man sent out a raven, but it stayed out to eat dead bodies.
He next sent out a dove, which returned to tell what the raven was doing, and ravens have been cursed to eat carrion since.
A raven was sent, and its obedience was rewarded by permitting it to eat fruit and corn.
The Deluge of the Bible
"And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: and be sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
The Oera Linda Book
The raven cries “Spare, spare;” but he steals and wastes everything that he gets into his beak.
Yes, said Hellenia, but ravens and other birds of prey feed only on dead carrion, whereas the plague feeds not only on carrion but on bad laws and customs and wicked passions.
Was there a tower in Babylon?
He releases a series of birds (a dove, a swallow, and a raven) to find dry land.
The raven does not return, indicating that the waters have receded.
The Deluge of the Chaldeans
I sent out and loosed a raven; the raven went and saw the corpses on the waters; it ate, rested, turned, and came not back.
Crows
Crows and ravens, often interchangeable in mythologies, have played significant roles in various myths and legends across different cultures.
Norse MythologyIn Norse mythology, the god Odin had two ravens named Huginn (thought) and Muninn (memory).
The goddess Morrigan, often depicted as a crow or raven, is a prominent figure in this mythology, representing fate and premonition.
In the Bible, crows and ravens are mentioned a few times, with the most significant references found in both the Old and New Testaments:
Noah's Ark (Genesis 8:7): After the great flood, Noah first sent out a raven to see if the waters had receded.
Unlike the dove, the raven did not return with a sign of land.
Elijah Fed by Ravens (1 Kings 17:4-6): In this story, the prophet Elijah, while hiding from King Ahab, is fed by ravens sent by God.
The ravens bring him bread and meat in the morning and evening.
Jesus' Teachings (Luke 12:24): In the New Testament, Jesus refers to ravens in a teaching about reliance on God.
He notes that ravens do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn, yet God feeds them.
Waters decreased
[5] And the waters decreased continually until the tenth 10th month: in the tenth 10th month, on the first 1st day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.[6] And it came to pass at the end of forty 40 days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:[7] And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro moves around until the waters were dried up from off the earth.[8] Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;[9] But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.[10] And he stayed yet other seven 7 days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;[11] And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.[12] And he stayed yet other seven 7 days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more.[13] And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first 601 years, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.[14] And in the second 2nd month, on the seven and twentieth 27th day of the month, was the earth dried.[15] And God spake unto Noah, saying,[16] Go forth of the ark, thou you, and thy your wife, and thy your sons, and thy your sons' wives with thee you.[17] Bring forth with thee you every living thing that is with thee you, of all pure flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.[18] And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him:[19] Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark.[20] And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD Enlil; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.[21] And the LORD Enlil smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD Enlil said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.[22] While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.
The great flood stories
In their story, the roles of Noah's raven and dove are replaced by a coyote.
Their story details, "Once everyone was safely inside, the opening sealed itself, just in time to shelter them from the roaring floodwaters outside." They also vaguely remember the story of Noah's raven and dove.