Corvus corax
Raven
Raven - OE hræfn - hræmn - ON hrafn
As with all old Corvus names, hræfn and hrafn are onomatopoeic (the f is pronounced v). The raven, of course, is the big mama
or daddy of crows the world over, and has, unsurprisingly, been feared and revered for a multitude of folkloric reasons relating to its size, sonorous and sinister songs and calls, and the usual corvid qualities which are supercharged in the raven species and which mean it is repeatedly associate with the occult and ill omen. As with other corvid species, it is difficult to know the extent to which Corvus corax was specifically identified and intended in uses of medieval hræfn and hrafn, though perhaps more so than with crawe and hroc because of the species’ determinable size difference. The raven was certainly singled out for spiritual significance in pre-modern cultures, as we know from the remarkable number of ravens found ritually buried in pits (alongside a smaller number of crows and rooks) at (Iron Age) Danebury Hillfort in Hampshire.
To some degree, it may have been that the corvid species were considered cousins to each other, with most being diminutive versions of the giant raven. For further discussion of the problems involved in identifying medieval corvids, see the page for Carrion crow.
The other obstacle with the raven is that we know that Old English hræfn and Old Norse hrafn were used as personal names (no doubt because of the impressive associations with that bird, rather like hafoc ‘hawk’). This means that in some cases it is impossible to know whether a human or a bird is being referenced in place-names. Furthermore, the alternative OE raven name, hræmn, is confusable in some cases with hramsa (wild garlic) and ramm (ram); so a place such as Ramsey in Essex is ‘Hrafn, raven’s, ram or wild garlic island’! As elsewhere on this site, an asterisk after names below indicates where ambiguity has been noted in this regard, which, frustratingly, does include a lot of the names below.
Corpusty (Norf)
Raincliff (Yorks)
Raincliffe (Yorks)
Rainow (Ches)
Rainbarrow (Dor)
Rainsber Scar (Yorks)*
Rainsbarrow Wood (Cumbs)*
Rainsbutt (Yorks)
Rainscombe Ho (Wilts)*
Rampton (Notts)*
Ramridge (Dev)
Ramridge End (Beds)*
Ramsbury (lost, Berks)
Rambury (Dor)*
Ramsbury (Wilts)*
Ramscliff (Wilts)
Ramsdean (Hants)*
Ramsdean Plantation (WSsx)
Ramsden Bellhouse (Esx)*
Ramsey (Esx)*
Ramsey Island (Esx)*
Ramsgate (Kent)*
Ramsgill (Yorks)*
Ramshaw Farm (Derbs)*
Ramshorn (Staffs)*
Ramshurst (ESsx)
Ramslye (ESsx)*
Ramsnest Common (Sry)
Ranah Stones (Yorks)
Ranskill (Notts)
Ranson Moor (Cambs)*
Raveley (Cambs)*
(East/West) Ravendale (Lincs)
Raven Dale (Yorks)*
Ravenestorp (Dor)*
Ravenesbroc (lost, Yorks)
Ravenfield (Yorks)*
Ravenscar (Yorks)
Ravenscliffe (Derbs)
Ravenscliffe Wood (Yorks)
Ravenscroft (Ches)*
Ravenscroft Farm (Herts)*
Ravensbrook Farm (Wilts)
Ravenscliff (Derbs)
Ravensdale Farm (Notts)*
Ravensdale Park (Derbs)
Ravensden (Beds)
Ravenser (lost, Yorks)*
Raven’s Hall (Cambs)*
Ravenshead Wood (Notts)
Ravenshill (Glos)
Ravenshill Farm (Worcs)*
Ravenshoe (Cambs)
Ravens Holme (Lancs)*
Ravensknowle Hall (Yorks)
Raven Slack (Derbs)
Ravensmeols (Lancs)*
Ravensmoor (Ches)
Ravensthorpe (Northants)*
Ravensthorpe Manor (Yorks)*
Ravenstone (Bucks)*
Ravenstone (Derbs)*
Ravenstone (Leics)*
Ravenstonedale (Cumb)
Ravens' Tor (Derbs)
Ravensty (lost, Lancs)
Ravensworth (Co Dur)*
Ravensworth (Yorks)*
Ravenswyke (Yorks)*
Raventofts Ho (Yorks)*
Raven Winder (Cumb)
Rennesley Wood (Herts)*
Renscombe (Dor)
Roystone Grange (Derbs)*
Field names: Raneleghruydynges, Torkington (Ches), Ranesfeld, Bromborough (Ches), le Rauenehurst, Rushton (Ches), Raueneshurst/esyord, Plumley (Ches), le rauenusholtusmor, Odd Rode (Ches), Ravenes croftes, Hurleston (Ches), Ravenhill Ruding, Dodcott cum Wilkesley (Ches), Raveneshurst in Aldredelegh, Over Alderley (Ches), Ravensnest, Barthomley (Ches), Ravenesfors, Millom (Cumbs), Rauenesbroc, Ault Hucknall (Derbs), Rauenescloghsyde, Matlock Bath (Derbs), Ravenhow stones, Elvaston (Derbs), Ravensmer, Foston and Scropton (Derbs), Remesclif, Preston (Dor), Remeswelle, Worth Matravers (Dor), Rauenesthuett, Noseley (Leics), Rauensakir, South Croxton (Leics), Rauenshyd, Barkby (Leics), lez pyngiles/Ravenestache, Lindsey (Lincs), Rameschou, Lindsey (Lincs), Rauendale/Rauendalestige, Lindsey (Lincs), Rauenker, Lindsey (Lincs), Ravensholm, Lindsey (Lincs), Raventhorpe Common, Lindsey (Lincs), Crakesloth, Cawston (Norf), Rankehull, Brewood (Staffs), Ravenesac, Longnor (Shrops), Le Ravenesok, Barrow (Shrops), Revesnehac, Church Pulverbatch (Shrops)
Ravens appear in charters relating to the following places: Uffington, Berks (10th cen.), Sparsholt, Oxon (10th cen.), Ashburton, Dev (?), Charlcombe, Dev (?), Bighton, Hants (10th cen.), Bedwyn, Wilts (10th cen.), Little Bedwyn, Wilts (8th cen.), Washington, WSsx (10th cen.), Pewsey, WIlts (10th cen.), Stanmore in Beedon, Berks (10th cen.), Pyrton, Oxon (8th cen.), Ramsey, Cambs (?), Blewbury, Berks (10th cen.), Church Honeybourne, Worcs (?).
Sources (see ‘About’ page for the full bibliography): Watts, Cambridge Dictionary; Ekwall, Oxford Dictionary; Cavill, English Field-Names; landscape.org.uk, sepn.nottingham.ac.uk, esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk. See also Eric Lacey, ‘When Is a Hroc not a Hroc? When It Is a Crawe or a Hrefn!: A Case-Study in Recovering Old English Folk-Taxonomies’, in The Art, Literature and Material Culture of the Medieval World, ed. by M. Boulton, J. Hawkes and M. Herman (Dublin: Four Courts, 2015), pp. 138-52.