What does it mean when a crow appears?
Crows and ravens have been read as omens of death, as messengers, and as signs of intelligence, depending on the culture. In several ancient traditions they were watched closely because they were believed to carry knowledge from somewhere beyond.
Last reviewed October 20, 2026
What each tradition says
Scandinavia, recorded in Iceland in the thirteenth century
Norse mythology
The god Odin kept two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, whose names mean thought and memory. Each day they flew out over the world and came back to tell him what they had seen. Ravens, a close relative of the crow, are messengers of knowledge in this story, not of doom.
Greece, from around 750 BCE to late antiquity (the sixth century CE)
Greek myth and religion
In a story the Roman poet Ovid tells, the raven was once a white bird. The god Apollo turned it black for telling him bad news, that his lover Coronis had been unfaithful. In the same story a crow, once a princess, warns the raven to keep quiet. The raven stayed linked with Apollo, who was associated with prophecy, and with ill tidings.
Italy, from around 750 BCE to the fourth century CE
Roman religion
Roman augurs, the officials who read signs, watched the flight and calls of birds under strict rules. Crows and ravens were among the birds read by their cry, and the side it came from mattered: Cicero records a raven on the right or a crow on the left as a good sign. A sign only counted once it had been formally declared, so a crow's call was not an omen on its own.
How to weigh it
Crows are common, loud and very good at being noticed, so a crow appearing is not rare. The old sources do not agree on whether the bird is a bearer of bad news or a keeper of knowledge. A reading that tells you which one it is for you has gone further than the sources do.