Cernunnos |
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| Cernunnos Lord Of Animals , with antlers ,the ring which he holds
is similar to the ring around his neck, Gudestrup Cauldrun Denmark
Celtic 1st century BC Europe |
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Iconography
Cernunnos as the "Lord of the Animals" or the "Lord of Wild Things".
Because of his association with stags (a particularly hunted beast)
he is also described as the "Lord of the Hunt". Interestingly, the Pilier
des nautes links him with sailors and with commerce, suggesting
that he was also associated with material wealth as does the coin pouch
from the Cernunnos of Reims (Marne, Champagne, France) - in antiquity,
Durocortorum, the civitas capital of the Remi tribe - and the
stag vomiting coins from Niedercorn-Turbelslach (Luxembourg)
Cernunnos is nearly always portrayed with animals, in particular the
stag. He is also frequently associated with a unique beast that seems
to belong primarily to him: a serpent with the horns of a ram. This
creature may have been a deity in its own right. He is associated with
other beasts less frequently, including bulls (at Reims), dogs and rats.
Origins
Cernunnos is known, from archaeological sources such as inscriptions and depictions, to have been worshipped in Gaul, Northern Italy (Gallia Cisalpina) and the southern coast of Britain. The earliest known probable depiction of Cernunnos was found at Val Camonica in Italy, dating from the 4th century BC, while the best known depiction is on the famous Gundestrup cauldron of pre-Germanic Denmark, dating to the 1st century BC.
The depictions of Cernunnos are strikingly consistent throughout the Celtic world. His most distinctive attribute are his stag's horns, and he is usually portrayed as a mature man with long hair and a beard. He wears a torc, an ornate neck-ring used by the Celts to denote nobility. He often carries other torcs in his hands or hanging from his horns, as well as a purse filled with coins. He is usually portrayed seated and cross-legged, in a position which some have interpreted as meditative or sha
Cernunnos in Celtic polytheism is the deified spirit of horned male animals, especially of stags, a nature god associated with produce and fertility. As a "Horned God", Cernunnos was one of a number of similar deities found in many ancient cultures.