Narrative Outline
Introduction by Tony Angell
Compares the ravens in the Tower of London to those in Native American religions of the Canada and the American Northwest Coast.
PART ONE: THE LEGEND OF THE RAVENS
I. In Search of the Tower Ravens
Describes the fascination that the ravens in the Tower have had for visitors from the Japanese author Natsume Soseki in the early nineteenth century to the present.
II. Invented Tradition or Modern Myth?
Tells how the author began to investigate the Tower Ravens, and then examines the lore of the ravens as myth, tradition, and folklore.
III. A Victorian Institution
Looks at the ravens in the context of Victorian and Edwardian culture, which was fascinated with medieval and esoteric themes.
PART TWO: THE HISTORY OF THE RAVENS
IV. City of Ravens
Looks at ravens and their importance in British culture and mythology, from the Celts and Romans to modern times.
V. Bran the Blessed
Tells of the Celtic raven-god Bran, whose story may have helped inspire the institution of the Tower Ravens.
VI. The Earls of Dunraven
Tells of how the ravens were brought to the Tower of London by Earls of Dunraven, who believed themselves successors of Bran.
VII. Around the Scaffold
Tells how ravens were driven from London in the nineteenth century, but began to appear fascinating and exotic.
VIII. The First Ravens in the Tower
Reconstructs how the first ravens may have been brought to the Tower by the Earls of Dunraven in the latter part of the nineteenth century.
IX. Martyrs to the Crown
Tells how the area where ravens were originally kept, known as the scaffold, came to be regarded as a shrine for martyrs.
X. Jackie the Lucky Raven
Tells how the raven mascot in a brewery near the Tower, known as “Jackie the Lucky Raven,” was used as a spotter for German bombs and planes, and how his story inspired the legend that Britain will fall if the ravens leave the Tower.
XI. When the Bombing Stopped
Tells how Yeoman Warders told tourists how Britain would fall if the ravens leave the Tower of London, how saboteurs killed some raven at the Tower in an effort to overthrow the British Empire, and how reports of the incident popularized the legend.
PART THREE: THE RAVENS, TODAY AND TOMORROW
XI. National Pets
Looks at the way the Tower Ravens went from being symbols of doom to national pets in the latter twentieth century.
XII. In the Beat of a Raven’s Wing
Looks at the significance of the Tower Ravens in the perspective of postmodern theory and literature.
XII. The Ravens and the Crown
Looks at the mystique of the Tower Ravens and the Monarchy they represent, in light of massive changes in contemporary British society.
Epilogue: Will Britain Fall?
Proposes how a nest of live ravens can be maintained at the Tower of London, thus using the institution of the Tower Ravens as a bond with the natural world.