Vaticinium
Critical Literature
No critical literature available
The inset story appears in the following manuscripts
The inset story appears in the following versions and secondary versions
The Prophesy
A father and son set sail together, and are surprised when crows land upon the mast, cawing. The boy understands their speech, and tells their father that they prophesy that one day he will be rich, and his father shall kneel before him, holding a basin for him to wash while his mother holds the towel. Enraged, the father flings his son overboard. The boy is saved by a passing ship, is left at a nearby port, and enters the service of the steward of the castle. The king of that land had long been plagued by ravens constantly circling him and cawing, and he offered half his kingdom and his daughter’s hand in marriage to any who could free him from this nuisance. The boy arrives at the court and explains to the king that the ravens want his judgement in a dispute to do with faith in times of hardship: in some versions, it is a lover's quarrel, in which two male ravens fight over which has claim the female based on whether they stood by her during famine; in other versions, it is a family issue, and two parents fight over who has claim to their child. The king judges that the raven who was a faithful caregiver during the period of hardship has the rightful claim, and the three ravens fly away. The boy is given the hand of the princess, eventually takes the throne, and at long last decides to visit his parents. When they hear the king is coming, they kneel before him with a basin to for him to wash, and a towel, and do not recognise him until he reveals his identity to them.
