As Jupiter’s eagle had been the war sign of the Romans so was Odin’s raven the chief mark of the Danes in the heathen ages. An old chronicler (Emma’s Encomiast) relates, that in the time of peace no image whatever was seen in the flag, or mark, of the Danes; but in time of war there waved a raven in it, from whose movements the Danes took auguries of victory or defeat. If it fluttered its wings, Odin gave them a sign of conquest; but if the wings hung slackly down, victory would surely desert them. From the few historical accounts that remain to us of this raven’s mark we are not, however, justified in believing that it was so long or so generally adopted among the Danes as the eagle was among the Romans. We find it expressly mentioned only during the Danish conquests in the British Islands; yet, remarkably enough, at such different times and under such peculiar circumstances, that we may with good reason assert that the raven’s mark was really a common flag of battle and conquest for the Danes and Norwegians. It is mentioned for the first time in the year 898, consequently nearly a thousand years ago; that is to say, about the time of the banner-coins before described, and especially of that coin of Anlaf, or Olaf, on which is seen the bird with extended wings. At that time, it is said, the Danish chiefs suffered a great defeat in South England, in which they lost their war-ensign, or banner (_Anglo-Saxon_, guð-fana), which they called “the raven” (_Anglo-Saxon_, ræfen v. hrefn. v. hræfen). Another account adds, that these chiefs were sons of Regner Lodbrog, and that the flag, or mark, was cunningly woven by Regner’s daughters. The raven borne upon it was thought to forbode either victory or defeat. This ensign is again spoken of a century later, in the time of Canute the Great. It is mentioned in the great battle of Clontarf, in Ireland (1014), when Sigurd, the Norwegian Jarl of Orkney, bore a raven-standard against the Irish. Two years afterwards, in the sanguinary battle at Ashingdon in Essex (1016), which partly decided Canute’s conquest of England, the Danish army had begun to give way; when the jarl, Thorkel the Tall, shouted to the warriors, as he pointed to the flag, that the raven fluttered its wings, and predicted a glorious victory. The Danes took fresh courage, and victory crowned their efforts. The mighty Danish jarl Sivard, or Sigurd, surnamed “Digre” (the stout) (+ 1055), who ruled the earldom of Northumberland somewhat after Canute’s time, and after the Danish dominion in England had ceased, also bore a raven ensign, which was called “Ravenlandeye,” or the raven that desolates the land. (“_Corvus terræ terror._”) There seems to have been many legends among the people, both as to the manner in which Sigurd procured this ensign, and as to its supernatural power.