Sigil of Raum
At a glance
- Entry
- 40 of 72
- Rank
- Earl
- Legions
- 30 in the text
- Also written
- Räum
Description in the text
Raum is credited with taking treasure from kings’ houses and damaging cities or dignities. The passage also assigns him knowledge of past, present, and future and the power to cause affection between friends or foes.
Read entry 40 on page 35 of the 1916 edition
Appearance
A crow that can take human shape.
Topics attributed to this entry
- Treasure
- Divination
- Relationships
Reading this entry
Raum, another crow who can become human, is an earl rather than a president. His offices include stealing treasure from royal houses, damaging cities and human dignities, speaking of past, present, and future, and causing affection between friends or enemies. The royal theft is more specific than a general claim to find buried wealth: the property is taken from a king’s house and carried elsewhere.
The text says Raum formerly belonged to the Order of Thrones and assigns him 30 legions. Although his bird transformation sits immediately after Malphas, their remaining details differ. Malphas builds and warns about deceit after sacrifice; Raum removes treasure and destroys civic standing. Reading adjacent entries prevents a directory from collapsing them into an undifferentiated group of crow spirits. His seal closes the description.
Read entry 40 on page 35 of the 1916 edition or compare the 1904 transcription.
A closer reading of entry 40
What the numbered text says
Raum shares the crow-to-human sequence with Malphas but uses it to introduce a different social world. The attributed theft targets royal households, followed by destruction of cities and human dignities; knowledge across time and affection between friends or foes then broaden the account. The former order of Thrones is reported as status within the book’s hierarchy. None of these offices establishes that the crow is a symbol for a particular kingdom.
About the printed seal
The 1916 image labels this sign 40 on frontispiece 5. It marks Raum’s numbered place, not the location of the imagined royal treasure. The text supplies no decoding of a city, crown, or bird within its lines.
Compare another entry
Compare entry 39: Malphas. Both adjacent entries open with a crow and later human form. Malphas builds and reports enemies’ intentions; Raum steals from kings and destroys cities and rank. Comparing their offices shows why appearance alone is a poor guide to the source’s distinctions.