One crow for sorrow
A single crow, like a single magpie, is read as bad luck, and a crow on the roof as a sign of death.
Animals superstition
Crows as omens
Crows as omens: one for sorrow, two for joy — the counting rhyme, first printed in 1780, actually refers to magpies. First recorded: Norse and Roman sources; the counting rhyme from 1780. That makes it around 2,000 years old — joint 15th oldest of the 45 superstitions we have dated.
- Earliest record
- Roman era Norse and Roman sources
- Written down in
- 1867 Harland and Wilkinson, Lancashire
Record: John Harland and T. T. Wilkinson, Lancashire Folk-Lore (London: Frederick Warne, 1867).
When it actually starts
How old is this one
First recorded
Norse and Roman sources; the counting rhyme from 1780
That makes it
around 2,000 years old
Rank by age
Joint 15th oldest of 45 dated here
Category
Animals
Crows and ravens follow armies and gather at carrion, which put them at battlefields before anyone else. The association with death is observational before it is mystical.
Why it stuck. Crows genuinely do recognize individual human faces and hold grudges for years, which is documented — so the sense of being watched deliberately is not imagined.
14 of the dated superstitions here were written down earlier and 18 later, while 12 share its date.
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Primary source
As it was written down in 1867
“Crow, crow, get out of my sight, Or else I’ll eat thy liver and lights.”
John Harland and T. T. Wilkinson, Lancashire Folk-Lore (London: Frederick Warne, 1867) — read the original text.
A children’s charm against crows, recorded in Lancashire and Yorkshire in 1867.
The versions people follow
What exactly is believed
Crow cawing at the door
In India a crow cawing at the door announces a guest.
Feeding the ancestors
In Hindu tradition crows are fed during Shraddha because they are thought to carry food to the ancestors.
Odin's ravens
In Norse myth Huginn and Muninn, thought and memory, flew out each day and reported back to Odin.
How the bad luck is traditionally undone
A lone crow is greeted, or people wait to see a second bird, which turns sorrow into joy in the counting rhyme.
Where it lives today
Crows are known to recognize individual human faces and remember people who threatened them, which gives the old sense of being watched a factual edge.
What people say
One for sorrow, two for joy — the counting rhyme, first printed in 1780, actually refers to magpies.What is going on
Corvids are among the most intelligent animals tested, using tools and planning ahead. The unease they produce is a response to real cognition.Where it applies. Ominous across Europe; in Japan and parts of Native American tradition the crow is a creator or guide.
Nearest in age
Crows as omens are joint 15th oldest of the 45 dated superstitions here. Of those, 3 date from 1900 or later and 14 predate the common era.
First-recorded dates are the earliest documented appearance in written sources, not the earliest possible origin — an unrecorded practice can be older. How the dating works and where it is uncertain →
Sources
Statements of fact on this page were checked against these sources in October 2026. How we choose and check sources: editorial policy.
Cite this page
AstroHot. “Crows As Omens: Origin, Meaning and When It Began.” Accessed October 28, 2026. https://astrohot.com/superstitions/crow-omens/
For Wikipedia
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