The Raven's Tale

Edith Fowke is professor emerita at York University and the author of
Canadian Folklore: Perspectives on Canadian Culture and Legends Told in
Canada.

C.W. Nicol lectures throughout the world on environmental and cultural
topics, and has written film documentaries, articles, and books. He has
spent much time in the Arctic, which gave him the knowledge of the
northland reflected in this book.

Most tales of the raven treat it as the Natives’ mythological god.
The Raven’s Tale pictures the raven as a wise old bird who introduces
and links various stories together. The book begins with the old raven,
Gon, finding a young fox caught in a leghold trap. The fox chews off his
paw and escapes to form a friendship with a wolf. The raven watches over
the fox and the wolf as they set off to look for food. During their long
search, they encounter many other Arctic birds and animals—a hare,
walrus, caribou, muskox, and polar bear—each of whom tells its story
in its own words. Most of them are identified not by their English names
but by descriptive phrases or Inuit terms. Simple line drawings of the
various animals and birds are included in the book.

The Raven’s Tale is filled with beautiful descriptions of the Arctic
landscape and its creatures. As a fascinating and dramatic story, the
book compares well with such classic animal books as Watership Down,
Black Beauty, and The Incredible Journey. While it will be of particular
interest to naturalists and environmentalists, it will also appeal to
the general reader.