Edgar is a talking raven, a former witch’s familiar of Magda who acquired a will of his own and can take human form under a cloak. He is an individual, not a species.
Description
He is described as “a black raven, a bitter raven”, and asks himself: “Am I a raven or am I a person?” He is larger than a raven should be: “when he is coming down he realizes he is bigger, and when he lands very tired he sort of stumbles”. He always flies as if late, “as if he were behind for some boss”. His usual place is a person’s shoulder.
Cloak and human form
A cloak thrown over him turns the raven into a man: he lets himself drop and then stands up “like a person”. The man is naked, and the same cloak “covers him from nakedness”. His human face is recognized at once by those who know him: “that familiar face. It’s Edgard.”
Role
Edgar speaks and answers direct orders (“Edgar, please, speak, raven”). The raven on the shoulder was a company’s means of communication. He belonged first to Magda, the witch of chance, and appears on her shoulder in her childhood memory; he then passed to Krisina so that communication would not be cut. He also fights alongside Magda, and in one melee “touched Magda”.
He was Magda’s familiar but ceased to be one: he gained his own will, stopped being an instrument to “be the active one”, and was left “a little like a newborn”. He is regarded as “a good friend”.
Open questions
- Does any cloak work the transformation, who must put it on, and can Edgar reverse it at will?
- What made him cease to be a familiar, and what did Magda lose?
- Does he carry messages by flying or speak at a distance?
- Whom, if anyone, does he still answer to, given the “boss” he seems late for?
- The spelling alternates between Edgar and Edgard.