Queen of the Crows

He could be a king.

Hello again, readers. This week, we'll be looking at Queen of the Crows, a story from the Caribbean. It shows the importance of forging relationships over time. And having a strong scalp. Read the story at the link above and read below to analyze it with me.

So I like to think that Toewi and Kroemoe managed to fall in love, even though he didn't speak to her. I do wonder why he didn't speak to her. We see that when he finally did, he took her away with him, so maybe he knew that he'd have to take her with him when he finally spoke to her? It could have been something else, though. Magical rules aren't always straightforward.

We know very little about Toewi, besides the fact that she had a beautiful singing voice and that she wanted to marry a handsome prince. So, it's probably a fair bet that she wasn't interested in marrying anyone on her island. I wonder if her family was around. We don't see them in the story, and she was sitting in her house alone working on her loom when she first saw Kroemoe. Fairy tales are almost always light on the details, but I always wonder about them.

Let's take a look at Kroemoe. I would guess that he originally started hanging around Toewi because of her beautiful singing voice. Since she didn't think he was real, he could have gotten away with just listening to her sing. But he didn't. One day, he carried her bucket of water. Confirming to her that he's real changes their relationship, and I'm sure she talked to him more deliberately after that. He kept coming back, so whether she talked to him or not, we know he liked being with her. And she kept singing, which summoned him, so she probably liked to be with him too.

A lot of these stories of men who take women away to be their wives have very little time for the two of them to start a relationship, but this story doesn't fall into that trap. It doesn't say how long they've been seeing each other, but it's implied to be several times. Definitely at least enough for both of them to know how they feel about being around the other one. So, maybe it was a good thing that Toewi threw that rock at the crows. It led to Kroemoe revealing himself to her and, presumably, taking her away to a happily ever after. Never thought I'd say it was a good thing to throw a rock at animals like that.

I wonder what the other crows thought about Toewi. Maybe they were checking her out as well, to make sure she was good enough for their king. It's kind of funny that we see more of his, possible, friends than we do hers. We know there are other villagers, but all we know about them is their feelings about crows. And that someone either saw her taken away, or learned the story later.

The moral of this story is that if you dream about something long enough, it may come true. Alternatively, if you're hanging out with the king of the crows, make sure you've got something he can grab to take you away to his palace. I'm going to assume he used magic to be able to carry her away by her hair without hurting her.

Have a different moral? Enjoyed the story? Wondering if you can summon a warrior prince just by singing? Comment below! And if you like what you read, don't forget to subscribe.