Veronese Design Cernunnos Celtic Horned God Of Animals And The Underworld Statue 9 Inch

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It is unusual for a god as wide-spread as Cernunnos appears to have been to have no such syncretization. There are no sources that clearly give a Roman equivalent for the horned god or describe him in Latinized terms. The etymon karn- "horn" appears in both Gaulish and Galatian branches of Continental Celtic. Hesychius of Alexandria glosses the Galatian word karnon (κάρνον) as "Gallic trumpet", that is, the Celtic military horn listed as the carnyx (κάρνυξ) by Eustathius of Thessalonica, who notes the instrument's animal-shaped bell. [4] The root also appears in the names of Celtic polities, most prominent among them the Carnutes, meaning something like "the Horned Ones", [5] and in several personal names found in inscriptions. [6]

Cernunnos" is believed by some Celticists to be an obscure epithet of a better attested Gaulish deity; perhaps the god described in the interpretatio Romana as Mercury or Dis Pater, [8] which are considered to share Cernunnos's psychopomp or chthonic associations. The name has only appeared once with an image, when it was inscribed on the Nautae Parisiaci (the sailors of the Parisii, who were a tribe of Gauls). [9] Otherwise, variations of the name Cernunnos has also been found in a Celtic inscription written in Greek characters at Montagnac, Hérault (as καρνονου, karnonou, in the dative case). [10] A Gallo-Latin adjective carnuātus, "horned", is also found. [11] Epigraphic evidence [ edit ] One such image is not of the mature man usually identified as Cernunnos, but of a child. His antlers, coin purse, and the serpents that flank him, however, lead most historians to identify this as a version of the same god, either from a local variation or from an unknown myth. In addition to his association with animals and nature, Cernunnos is also associated with the horned serpent. This symbolizes his connection to the underworld and his role as a guide to the afterlife. The horned serpent is also a symbol of transformation and rebirth, reflecting Cernunnos’ role as a symbol of the cycle of life and death. Cernunnos and Celtic Mythology Celtic God Cernunnos the male horned god of the Iron age Celts. He is the Gaulish version of the Pan-Celtic “Horned God. ” In Welsh mythology he is the Consort of the Great Goddess and god of the Underworld, nature, virility, fertility, animals, sex, reincarnation and shamanism. As such, mentions and comparisons made by contemporary Roman writers may have been under a different, unknown name. To interpret Cernunnos without this material, historians have relied largely on the god’s imagery.The Pillar of the Boatmen, like many monuments from Roman Gaul, honors both native and Roman gods. Cernunnos appears alongside other Gallic deities like Esus and Smertrios as well as familiar Roman deities such as Jove (Jupiter), Fortuna, and Vulcan.

An early depiction of the god Cernunnos can be found in the 1st century AD Pillar of the Boatmen. The Pillar was a dedication to the Roman god Jupiter and commissioned by the guild of boatmen at Lutetia (Paris today). The columnar artifact displays various Gallic and Greco-Roman deities, including the horned god Cernunnos. Although some of the animals Cernunnos is often shown with were domesticated they still had connections to the wilderness. Dogs were often used in hunting, especially to run down deer, and bulls were sometimes associated with forest gods because they could protect herd against wild predators.

Is Cernunnos the Mythic Master of Animals?

Given the ambiguous scope of the Horned God in Celtic mythology, there are no recorded myths and ancient literary sources that directly pertain to the figure of Cernunnos. However, the imagery of horns and serpents do play their part in some mythical narratives of ancient Europe. For example, in the 8th-century Irish tale Táin Bó Fraích, the warrior-hero Conall Cernach bypasses a fort to confront a mighty serpent that is guarding the stronghold’s treasure.

Arguably the best-known deity in their pantheon is Cernunnos, the sylvan antlered god that likely has origins that far predate the emergence of the Celts. Sometimes also known as Carnonos, his name has firm Proto-Indo-European origins. It stems from the PIE word *k̑r̥no-, and is thus cognate to Germanic *hurnaz and Latin cornu, all meaning “horn”. In the Celtic Gaulish language, this word was karnon, and the connection with the name of Cernunnos is clear - it reflects the deity’s stag antlers, growing from his head. Thus, Cernunnos literally means “the horned one”. Although there are few surviving artifacts and inscriptions related to Cernunnos, his presence in Celtic art and mythology is significant. He is often depicted in a seated, cross-legged position, with a bag of coins or a cornucopia, symbolizing wealth and abundance.

Apollo: While not especially common in Roman art, Apollo was sometimes shown as a hnting god with animals in a motif known as The Master of Animals. Resembling images of Cernunnos flanked by stags and hounds, this style was known in the ancient Near East and India as well.