Tower Of London's Raven Mythology Asserted To Be Fantasy
Maev Kennedy, The Guardian (London), 15 Nov. 2004<
As every school child knows, there have been ravens at the Tower of London since time immemorial, and if they ever leave, the monarchy and the tower itself will fall.
The story is one of the most cherished of the tower's tales, and the current seven ravens stalk about the groundsvery much as if they own the place.
It is impossible to say what bearing the ravens' health will have on Britain becoming a republic, but one thing does seem certain - they have only been there for a little more than 100 years.
A historian has scoured the records for 1,000 years, and can trace the ravens back no further than the late 19th century. Geoff Parnell, official Tower of London historian and a member of the Royal Armouries staff, is convinced they are merely a typical piece of Victorian romance.
Worse, Dr Parnell has found the statement in the records"there are none left" - and yet the monarchy and the tower have more or less survived.
A spokeswoman for Historic Royal Palaces, which runs the tower and has a special ravens section on its website, swallowed hard and said firmly:"This is a very interesting piece of research, which adds to the history of the tower. So much of the appearance of the tower that we see today does date back to the Victorian period that it is quite appropriate that the ravens should be a Victorian legend."
Dr Parnell has added another layer to the legend: his research suggests some ravens may have been a punning gift to the tower by the Earl of Dunraven, an archaeologist and antiquarian fascinated by Celtic raven myths, who added ravens to his family coat of arms, or by his son the fourth earl.
The tower was raven-less by the second world war, when some were killed in bombing, and others pined and died of shock. The myth was already so powerful, however, that when the tower reopened to the public, on January 1 1946, ravens were back in place.
Dr Parnell first became interested in the ravens story when working on an exhibition about the tower menagerie, kept by generations of monarchs for at least 600 years until it became the foundation of London Zoo. There were hawks, lions, leopards, monkeys and even a polar bear - but ravens were conspicuously absent.
The earliest reference he found was 1895, in a piece in the RSPCA journal, The Animal World. One Edith Hawthorn referred to the tower's pet cat being tormented by the ravens, Jenny and a nameless mate.
As every school child knows, there have been ravens at the Tower of London since time immemorial, and if they ever leave, the monarchy and the tower itself will fall.
The story is one of the most cherished of the tower's tales, and the current seven ravens stalk about the groundsvery much as if they own the place.
It is impossible to say what bearing the ravens' health will have on Britain becoming a republic, but one thing does seem certain - they have only been there for a little more than 100 years.
A historian has scoured the records for 1,000 years, and can trace the ravens back no further than the late 19th century. Geoff Parnell, official Tower of London historian and a member of the Royal Armouries staff, is convinced they are merely a typical piece of Victorian romance.
Worse, Dr Parnell has found the statement in the records"there are none left" - and yet the monarchy and the tower have more or less survived.
A spokeswoman for Historic Royal Palaces, which runs the tower and has a special ravens section on its website, swallowed hard and said firmly:"This is a very interesting piece of research, which adds to the history of the tower. So much of the appearance of the tower that we see today does date back to the Victorian period that it is quite appropriate that the ravens should be a Victorian legend."
Dr Parnell has added another layer to the legend: his research suggests some ravens may have been a punning gift to the tower by the Earl of Dunraven, an archaeologist and antiquarian fascinated by Celtic raven myths, who added ravens to his family coat of arms, or by his son the fourth earl.
The tower was raven-less by the second world war, when some were killed in bombing, and others pined and died of shock. The myth was already so powerful, however, that when the tower reopened to the public, on January 1 1946, ravens were back in place.
Dr Parnell first became interested in the ravens story when working on an exhibition about the tower menagerie, kept by generations of monarchs for at least 600 years until it became the foundation of London Zoo. There were hawks, lions, leopards, monkeys and even a polar bear - but ravens were conspicuously absent.
The earliest reference he found was 1895, in a piece in the RSPCA journal, The Animal World. One Edith Hawthorn referred to the tower's pet cat being tormented by the ravens, Jenny and a nameless mate.