The Crow Man

"Shadows thick and shadows fast, the murder comes tonight at last, crick and crack his wicker bones, the crow man comes into your homes, he takes the bad and rude and mean, and never again are you ever seen, his hempen face has a stiched on grin, and there ain't no running away from him he'll turn you straight into a crow, and on and on and on you'll go, evermore till nows the past, you're in his murder now at last"

The Crow Man, sourse unknown - A popular song sung by children on the Feast of Crows.

Summary

The Crow man is a tale that parents tell their children of a scarecrow who will come in the night and snatch them away if they are naughty, turning them into one of the murder of crows that signals his arrival. He is said to walk the land in the dead of winter and is most active around the winter solstice. This is the reason for the Feast of Crows a feast day that is celebrated by almost every race where children make small gifts for their parents and village elders as an apology for being bad the rest of the year.

Historical Basis

It is thought by scholars of the Time of Glory that the origins of this story may be more ancient even than most realise, there are references to, 'the straw man' who is cited as being followed by 'a flock of carrion birds' in elven stories that date back to the Lost Age.

Variations & Mutation

The most noteworthy variation of the Crow Man myth is that of the Halfling race. In their tale, the Crow Man does not turn the naughty children into crows but rather gives pet crows to the child who has performed the most impressive prank. In the eyes of many, this oddness is merely just further clarification that the Halflings are a foolish childlike race. To the few scholars whose curiosity bids them look deeper, however, the specificity of the myth only lends itself to the thought that if the Crow Man did ever exist, why was he so fond of the Halflings? Did he use to be one?