The Great Horned God
One of the most universal and common Celtic deity images is also the most mysterious. The unknown god or god-type appears throughout ancient Europe and Ireland, and the oldest examples are found in cave drawings and inscribed on Neolithic pottery. The closest thing to a name for the god is Cernunnos, “Horned One,” from a small handful of Gallo-Roman inscriptions. This is a bit of a cheat, as the epithet is taken from Roman period inscriptions and may be as much of a guess as the modern appellation, “Horned God.”
Image of Cernunnos.
Cernunnos is not mentioned in any extant mythological texts, although there is some speculation that he may be related to the Irish god Fionn, through the heavy deer symbolism attached to both gods. Fionn is also a master of animals, as recounted in tales where he has the special power to hypnotize a variety of creatures.
The most famous depiction of Cernunnos is taken from the Gundestrup cauldron, whereupon the god, in the form of a stag-antlered man, sits cross-legged and adorned with several torques, the Celtic emblem of divine authority and kingship. He is surrounded by animals of the forest, a typical feature of horned god images. For this reason, the god is sometimes called “Master of Animals.”
