Gods, Myths and Heroes - Part 26

 Cernunnos

Cernunnos was an ancient Celtic nature god from the northern part of Gaul (ancient France).  This is the oldest known depiction of him, on the Gundestrup Cauldron, dated between 150 BC and 1 BC.  His principal attributes are: he has antlers, he holds a torc (a neck ring) in one hand, and he holds a snake in the other.

On the Gundestrup Cauldron, Cernunnos is clothed, but almost all modern depictions show him naked, like the one above, perhaps because that brings him closer to nature.

This statue of Cernunnos is in the Museum of Witchcraft in Bostcastle, Devon, England.  Cernunnos has been adopted into the Wiccan religion as the Horned God, but it should be noted that he has antlers like a deer, not horns like a cow, and he should not be confused with the Devil, who is often represented with horns.  Cernunnos is a benevolent nature god.

Almost all modern representations of Cernunnos show him holding the traditional torc and snake, and many, like the one above, go a step further to show him with an erection, perhaps as a symbol of fertility.

This statue by Philip Hitchcock shows Cernunnos with antlers, with a snake, and with an erection, but the arm holding the torc is missing.

This 2021 bronze statue by Christophe Charbonnel is naked and has antlers, but the torc and snake (and the erection) are missing.

But all the pieces are there in this drawing by Antonius Subia.

This photo, labeled "The Horned Lord," tries to show the antlers in a different way.

Other photographers have created more compelling images, like this photograph of model Jurgen Hartl by photographer Andreas Bitesnich.

Our last photo was labeled "Buck."  I suspect the photographer and model were just playing around with the antlers, not knowing they were recreating a Celtic god.