Editing Cernunnos (section)

==Iconography==
A large number of images of an antlered figure, similar to that depicted on the Pillar of the Boatmen, have been found. These depict a male figure, often aged, with crossed legs, with antlers atop his head, who is associated with ram-horned (or ram-headed) serpents, torcs, symbols of fertility, and wild beasts (especially deer).<ref name=GreenDictionary/>{{rp|59–60}}<ref name=Sayers/>{{rp|348}} It is conventional to apply to the name of "Cernunnos" to images which fit within this cluster of attributes.<ref name=Maier>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Maier |first=Bernhard |encyclopedia=Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture |title=Cernunnos |pages=69–70 |publisher=Boydell Press |isbn=9780851156606 |date=1997 }}</ref> At least twenty-five images have been connected with Cernunnos in this way.{{efn|The ''[[Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae]]'' lists 25 images of Cernunnos.<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|839–842}} Bober discusses over fifty images in relation to the Cernunnos, though she does not identify all these images as of Cernunnos.<ref name=Bober/>{{rp|45–51}}}} Some, such as William Sayers and [[T. G. E. Powell]], have questioned whether the name given on the Pillar (which is so rare in epigraphy) is appropriate to apply to these images.<ref name=Sayers>{{cite journal |last=Sayers |first=William |title=''Cerrce'', an archaic epithet of the Dagda, Cernunnos and Conall Cernach |journal=Journal of Indo-European Studies |volume=16 |date=1988 |pages=341–364 }}</ref>{{rp|329, fn 9}} [[Pierre Lambrechts]] and Michael Altjohann have even argued that no such well-defined cluster of attributes exists in the archaeological record.<ref name=Bober/>{{rp|16}}<ref name=Altjohann/>{{rp|78}}{{efn|In his ''Contributions à l'étude des divinités celtiques'' (1942), Lambrechts examined anthropomorphic representations of Celtic gods (in the process, examining three types associated with Cernunnos: the images of cross-legged divinities, tricephalic divinities, and divinities associated with ram serpents) and argued that all were merely regional representations of a single, poorly defined and multifunctional, supreme god of the Celts: [[Esus]]-[[Teutates]].<ref name=Bober/>{{rp|16}}<ref>{{cite journal |title=Review: Pierre Lambrechts, ''Contributions à l'étude des divinités celtiques'' (1944) |date=1944 |journal=Revue d'Histoire Ecclésiastique |volume=40 |pages=322–324 |id={{ProQuest|1302279803}} |last=Drioux |first=G. }}</ref> More recently, Altjohann has argued that the attributes of the Cernunnos type are freely correlated with other non-Cernunnos types, and that therefore no clearly defined god called Cernunnos can be identified within Roman Gaul.<ref name=Altjohann/>{{rp|78–79}}}}

===Distribution and history===
The majority of the images identified as of Cernunnos have been found in Gaul, clustered around [[Paris]] and [[Reims]]. A [[Rock Drawings in Valcamonica|rock drawing in Valcamonica]] ([[Lombardy]], [[Italy]]) and the figure on Plate A of the Gundestrup cauldron (found in [[Himmerland]], [[Denmark]]) are conspicuous geographic exceptions.<ref name=FickettWilbar>{{cite journal |last=Fickett-Wilbar |first=David |title=Cernunnos: Looking a Different Way |journal=Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium |volume=23 |date=2003 |pages=80–111 |jstor=25660728 }}</ref>{{rp|82–83}} Engraved onto a rock at the prehistoric site of [[Val Camonica]] is a tall figure with antlers atop his head, arms in [[orans]] position, and a torc around his right arm. Besides him, on his right, are a ram-horned serpent and a smaller man (ithyphallic, arms in orans position).<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|839}} The detailed scene on Plate A of the Gundestrup cauldron has Cernunnos cross-legged, wielding a torc in one hand and a ram-horned serpent in the other. Around him are many animals: two bulls, a stag, a dolphin with a rider, [[griffin]]s, and a hyena.<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|839–840}}<ref name=Bober/>{{rp|19}} The provenance and date of the Gundestrup cauldron have been the subject of much debate.<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|842}} Cernunnos has been tentatively connected with images over a large geographical range, including Britain, Spain, Austria, Slovenia, and Romania.<ref name=Altjohann/>{{rp|fn 32}}

[[File:Françoise Foliot - Dieu de Bouray.jpg|thumb|The [[God of Bouray]]: a rare pre-Roman depiction of a Gaulish god. Cross-legged and hooved, the relationship of this Gaulish god to Cernunnos is uncertain.]]

The earliest datable representations of Cernunnos in Gaul date, like the Pillar of the Boatmen, to the reign of Tiberius (i.e., 14-37 CE);<ref name=deVries/>{{rp|104}} the latest to the 3rd century CE.<ref name=Blazquez>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Blázquez |date=1988 |first=José Maria |title=Cernunnos |volume=4 |encyclopedia=[[Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae]]|location=Zurich / Munich |publisher=Artemis |pages=839–844 |url=https://archive.org/details/limc_20210516/Lexicon%20Iconographicum%20Mythologiae%20Classicae/LIMC%20IV-1%20Eros-Herakles/page/n437 }}</ref>{{rp|842}} The archaeological evidence for images of deities in Gaul is scant before the Roman conquest.<ref name=Hofeneder1/>{{rp|205}} The [[God of Bouray]], a bronze statuette probably produced not long before the Roman conquest, depicts a Gaulish god with crossed legs and hooves. The relationship of this god with Cernunnos is uncertain.<ref name=GreenAnimals>{{cite book |last=Green |first=Miranda |title=Animals in Celtic Life and Myth |publisher=Routledge |date=1992 |location=London }}</ref>{{rp|231}}<ref name=Bober/>{{rp|33–34}}

Outside of Gaul, much earlier representations of Cernunnos are known.<ref name=GreenDictionary>{{cite book |title= Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend |first= Miranda |last= Green |publisher= Thames and Hudson |location= London |date= 1997 |isbn= 978-0500279755 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/dictionaryofcelt00gree }}</ref>{{rp|59}} The drawing from Valcamonica dates to 4th century BCE. José Maria Blázquez has argued that a painted vase, dating to the 2nd century BCE, from the [[Celtiberians|Celtiberian]] site of [[Numantia]], gives another early representation of Cernunnos.<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|839}} The Gundestrup cauldron, of either [[Thracians|Thracian]] or Celtic work, has been assigned to dates within a large range (from 200 BCE to 300 CE).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nielsen |first1=S. |last2=Andersen |first2=J. |last3=Baker |first3=J. |last4=Christensen |first4=C. |last5=Glastrup |first5=J. |display-authors=etal |year=2005 |title=The Gundestrup cauldron: New scientific and technical investigations |journal=[[Acta Archaeologica]] |volume=76 |pages=1–58 |doi=10.1111/j.1600-0390.2005.00034.x }}</ref>{{rp|53}}

After Christianisation, images of Cernunnos were the subject of [[iconoclastic]] destruction. A statue of Cernunnos from [[Verteuil]] ([[Charente]], France) was beheaded<ref name=Kiernan>{{cite book |title=Roman Cult Images: The Lives and Worship of Idols from the Iron Age to Late Antiquity |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2020 |first=Philip |last=Kiernan |doi=10.1017/9781108766555 |isbn=978-1-108-76655-5 }}</ref>{{rp|249}} and the horns of Cernunnos on the Reims altar seem to have been purposefully chipped off.<ref name=Kiernan/>{{rp|244}}

Some scholars (such as Duval and Bober) have suggested that Cernunnos's distinctive iconography persisted into the medieval period.<ref name=Duval>{{cite book |title=Les Dieux de la Gaule |publisher=Payot |date=1976 |edition=2 |location=Paris |last=Duval |first=Paul-Marie }}</ref>{{rp|121}}<ref name=Bober/>{{rp|44}} Cernunnos has been seen on Christian monuments from Ireland, such as the north cross at [[Clonmacnoise]], the market cross at [[Abbey of Kells|Kells]], and a [[Carndonagh stones|stele at Carndonagh]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Walsh |first1=John |last2=Bradley |first2=Thomas |title=A History of the Irish Church, 400-700 AD |date=1991 |location=Dublin |publisher=Columba Press}}</ref>{{rp|32}} The figure identified as Cernunnos on the 9th-century Clonmacnoise north cross appears to have horns and crossed legs; Fickett-Wilbar argues that these are misidentified ornamental motifs.<ref name=FickettWilbar/>{{rp|84}} On the Continent, Cernunnos has been seen in the [[Stuttgart Psalter]] and on a [[capital (architecture)|capital]] of [[Parma Cathedral]].<ref name=Duval/>{{rp|121}} A leaf from the {{circa|820}} Stuttgart Psalter depicts the [[Descent into Limbo]], with a devil figure (perhaps [[Hades]]) whom Bober identifies as of the Cernunnos-type, "complete with cross-legged posture, antlers, and even a ram-headed serpent",<ref name=Bober/>{{rp|44}} though J. R. M. Galpern identifies the features on the devil's head as wings, and connects them with motifs from Late Antique and [[Roman funerary art]].<ref name=Galpern>{{cite thesis |last=Galpern |first=J. R. M. |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |degree=PhD |title=The Shape of Hell in Anglo-Saxon England |date=1977 |id={{ProQuest|288008512}} }}</ref>{{rp|254}}

===Attributes and associations===
[[File:Roquepertuse. Statue de guerrier.jpg|thumb|A seated figure from [[Roquepertuse]]]]
The cross-legged pose of Cernunnos has occasioned much comment. Elaborate [[Cultural diffusion|diffusionist]] theories have been proposed to explain the origin of this particular motif.<ref name=Bober/>{{rp|22–25}} A popular theory proposes that the pose represents the transmission of a Buddhist motif (the [[lotus pose]]) from India via Greco-Egyptian work.<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|842}} Against a diffusionist hypothesis, [[Robert Balmain Mowat|Robert Mowat]] argued that this pose reflected the normal sitting position of the Gauls; he cited the testimony of [[Strabo]] and [[Diodorus]] that the Gauls sat on the floor for meals.<ref name=FickettWilbar/>{{rp|92}}<ref name=Bober/>{{rp|21}} In religious iconography, the position does not seem to have been exclusively associated with Cernunnos. Statues from the pre-Roman Gaulish sanctuary of [[Roquepertuse]] assume the same pose; though clearly of religious significance, they are not representations of Cernunnos.<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|842}} Representations of Cernunnos standing are known (such as the early example from Val Camonica).<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|839}}

Cernunnos is often depicted with torcs adorning his body. Most commonly he grasps one, and wears another around his neck. Sometimes he holds another on his chest.<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|843}} The torc is a ubiquitous feature of Celtic art and garb. They seem to have been a symbol of religious significance in Celtic art and, after the Roman conquest, perhaps a symbol of native identity.<ref name=Kiernan/>{{rp|81}}

[[File:Gundestrup cauldron, plate C, horned serpent.jpg|thumb|Ram-horned serpent on the Gundestrup cauldron (plate C)]]
The ram-horned (or ram-headed) serpent is a [[Hybrid beasts in folklore|hybrid beast]] peculiar to the Celts.<ref name=Duval/>{{rp|38}} The creature, which is associated with Cernunnos early as Val Camonica, appears to have had a significance independent of Cernunnos. In Gaul, ram-horned serpents are depicted alone or accompanying [[Mars (god)|Mars]] or [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]]. Ram-horned serpents also feature on two other plates of the Gundestrup cauldron (C and E). Cernunnos is also sometimes accompanied by serpents without the attributes of a ram, as on the [[Vendœuvres]] relief.<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|843}} The ram-horned serpent has been suggested to have a chthonic significance.<ref name=Bober/>{{rp|26}}

Some scholars, such as Miranda Green, have connected Cernunnos with the [[Lord of the Animals]] motif through such depictions as the [[Gundestrup cauldron]], where Cernunnos is placed centrally around a number of animals.<ref name=Bober/>{{rp|19}}<ref name=GreenSymbol>{{cite book |last=Green |first=Miranda |title=Symbol and Image in Celtic Religious Art |publisher=Routledge |date=1989 |location=London / New York |isbn=978-0-415-03419-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/symbolimageincel0000aldh |url-access=registration }}</ref>{{rp|93–94}} The closest parallel to the Gundestrup scene is given on the [[Lyon cup]], where Cernunnos is surrounded by a deer, a hound, and a (hornless) snake.<ref name=FickettWilbar/>{{rp|87}}

On various depictions, Cernunnos is associated with other deities. The significance of these associations is unclear.<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|843}} On three depictions, Cernunnos is paired with Mercury and [[Apollo]]; on the Lyon cup, he is paired with Mercury alone. Cernunnos is also depicted twice with [[Abundantia]], Roman god of prosperity, and twice with [[Hercules]].<ref name=FickettWilbar/>{{rp|102}}<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|841}} Three images of Cernunnos (among them, the Condat tricephal and [[Étang-sur-Arroux statuette]]) give Cernunnos three heads or faces.<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|844}} Bober argued that these images represent the syncretisation of Cernunnos with the (poorly understood) tricephalic god of Gaul.<ref name=Bober/>{{rp|34}}

===Interpretation===
Because of his persistent association with the natural world (for example, on the Gundestrup cauldron, where he is surrounded by various beasts), some scholars describe Cernunnos as the lord of animals or wild things.<ref name=FickettWilbar/>{{rp|80}} Miranda Green describes him as a "peaceful god of nature and fruitfulness".<ref name=GreenAnimals/>{{rp|228}}

Cernunnos is also associated with fertility and fecundity.<ref name=FickettWilbar/>{{rp|80}} Blazquez points out that the stag is a symbol of fertility across the Mediterranean.<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|843}} The association of Cernunnos with fertility is emphasised by other attributes. He is variously provided with a basket of fruit (as on the Étang-sur-Arroux statuette), a cornucopia (as on the Lyon cup), and a bag of coins (as on the Reims altar).<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|843}}

It has been suggested that Cernunnos carried a [[chthonic]] significance.<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|843}} Bober's study of the god concluded that Cernunnos was god of the underworld.<ref name=FickettWilbar/>{{rp|80}} She analyses the ram-horned serpent as the synthesis of two animals (the snake and the ram) of chthonic significance to the Celts.<ref name=Bober/>{{rp|26–27}} The rat above Cernunnos on the Reims altar and the association of Cernunnos with Mercury (guide of souls to the underworld) on several representations have also been thought to suggest an association with the underworld.<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|843}}

Fickett-Wilbar, in a recent study, has proposed that Cernunnos was a god of bi-directionality and mediator between opposites.<ref name=FickettWilbar/>{{rp|108}}

===Gallery===
{{gallery
|File:Cernunnos - Parco di Naquane R 70 - Capo di Ponte (Foto Luca Giarelli).jpg
|Rock carving of an antlered figure from [[Val Camonica]], Italy.<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|no 1}}
|File:Cernunnos from Numantia.jpg
|Fragment of a painted vase from [[Numantia]], Spain. Blázquez has identified the antlered figure as Cernunnos, comparing him with the image from Valcamonica.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Una réplica desconocida al Cernunnos de Val Camonica: el Cernunnos de Numancia  |journal=Revue d'Études Ligures |volume= 23 |issue=3–4 |date=1957 |pages=294–298 |url=https://www.cervantesvirtual.com/obra/una-rplica-desconocida-al-cernunnos-de-val-camonica---el-cernunnos-de-numancia-0/ |last= Blázquez |first=José María }}</ref>
|File:Gundestrupkarret2.jpg
|The full scene from Plate A of the [[Gundestrup Cauldron]].<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|no 6}}
|File:Celtic God Cernunnos 2. Musée départemental d'art ancien et contemporain.jpg
|Statue of Cernunnos from [[Sommerécourt]], [[Haute-Marne]]. His horns have been broken off. Two horned snakes feed from a bowl in the figure's hands.<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|no 8}}
|File:Ang mus gaul2.JPG
|Statue of Cernunnos from [[Verteuil-sur-Charente|Verteuil]], [[Charente]]. The figure holds a small stag, a torc, and a bag of coins; its head has been purposefully removed.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baigl |first1=Jean-Philippe |last2=Vernou |first2=Christian |title=Un nouveau Cernunnos découvert en Charente |journal=Aquitania: Une revue inter-régionale d'archéologie |volume=18 |date=2001 |pages=7–28 |doi=10.3406/aquit.2001.1319 }}</ref>
|File:Musée d'Aquitaine - Buste du dieu Cernunnos.jpg
|Three-headed bust of Cernunnos from [[Condat-sur-Trincou]], [[Dordogne]]. The central head wears a torc and has holes for antlers.<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|no 9}}
|File:Saintes statuary group, front.jpg
|Front of a relief from [[Saintes, Charente-Maritime]]. To the left is Cernunnos with purse and torc, to the right is [[Abundantia]] with [[cornucopia]].<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|no 16}}
|File:Saintes statuary group, rear.jpg
|Rear of a relief from [[Saintes, Charente-Maritime]]. At the centre is Cernunnos, to the right is Hercules, and to the left is a draped woman.<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|no 16}}
|File:Cernunnos on stele, Vendœuvres (Indre).jpg
|Cernunnos on an altar from [[Vendœuvres]], [[Indre]]. Cernunnos, unusually youthful looking, is depicted between two [[Genius (mythology)|genii]] atop serpents. <ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|no 15}}
|File:Cernunnos on terracotta relief from Blain, Loire-Atlantique.jpg
|Cernunnos on a fragment of terracotta from [[Blain, Loire-Atlantique]]. He is nude and appears to be standing a top an animal, perhaps a wild boar or cow.<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|no 11}}
|File:God of Etang sur Arroux possible depiction of Cernunnos.jpg
|The [[Étang-sur-Arroux statuette]] of Cernunnos. He has two torcs and two holes at the top of his head, probably to receive [[deer]] antlers. Above his ears are two small faces.<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|no 10}}
|File:Silver cup with Gallic divinities (Lyon Mus Gall-Rom 2004.0.02) 01.jpg
|Cernunnos on the [[Lyon cup]]. A torc-wearing figure reclines in between a deer and a dog.<ref name=Blazquez/>{{rp|no 12}}
|File:Stuttgart psalter folio 16.jpg
|Cross-legged devil figure, depicted in the [[Stuttgart Psalter]].
|File:CernunnosClonmacnoise.jpg
|A figure, perhaps cross-legged and horned, on the north cross at [[Clonmacnoise]].
}}