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Cernunnos

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The Cernunnos-type antlered figure or horned god, on the Gundestrup Cauldron, on display, at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen

Cernunnos is a Celtic stag god. He has a distinctive iconography, best attested in Gaul. His attributes include antlers atop his head, crossed legs, torcs (around his neck and in his hands), cornucopia, a ram-horned serpent, deer, and other animals. There is only one certain attestation of his name, but more than twenty depictions linked to him.

Name

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Pillar of the Boatmen

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Further information: Pillar of the Boatmen
Cernunnos on the Pillar of the Boatmen in its present state.

The Pillar of the Boatmen is a Gallo-Roman carved pillar discovered in 1711 under the choir of Notre-Dame de Paris. It is a religious monument, with depictions of Roman gods (Jupiter, Vulcan, and Castor and Pollux) alongside native Gaulish deities (such as Esus, Smertrios, and Tarvos Trigaranus), dedicated by a corporation of boatmen from the city of Lutetia (Roman Paris). The dedication dates it to the reign of Tiberius (14-37 CE).[1]

On one block from the pillar, a frowning, bearded figure is depicted from the shoulder up. His face is human, but his upper head is animal-like: hairless and bulging. Atop his head is a pair of bifid deer's antlers, with two short, pointed extrusions (perhaps ears or bull's horns) between them. A torc hangs on each of his antlers. The lower half of the block is lost, but given its original height, the figure could not have been standing. Therefore (in line with other figures identified as Cernunnos) the panel is often believed to have originally shown him cross-legged.[1][2]: 165 

Above the antlered figure is a one-word legend. When information about the pillar was published in 1711, this legend was reported as "Cernunnos". However, the block is now badly damaged. Many of the letters are only partially visible; the letter "C" is entirely gone.[1] Joshua Whatmough has gone as far as to say that in its present state "only 'nn' is certain".[3]: 517  The reading from 1711 has sometimes been mistrusted. Joseph Vendryes and Whatmough argue (following the Dacia inscription) that it read "Cernennos".[4]: 335  Françoise Le Roux [fr] was sceptical about the existence of the final "s".[5]: 324  However, David Fickett-Wilbar argues that 18th-century drawings show that the legend originally clearly read "Cernunnos".[6]: 81 

Possible other attestations

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A capital with Gaulish καρνονου or καρνομου

A capital found in Aumes (Hérault, France) is inscribed with a short Gaulish text in Greek letters. Michel Lejeune has interpreted this inscription as a dedication to a god καρνονου (translit. karnonou; in English, "Carnonos"), who he tentatively connects with the god Cernunnos. However, both Lejeune's reading and his interpretation of this inscription have been contested. Whatmough and D. Ellis Evans prefer the reading καρνομου (translit. karnomou); and Emmanuel Dupraz has argued that the inscription states that an object καρνον (translit. karnon) is being offered, rather than giving the name of a god.[7][8]: 327 

A wax tablet from Dacia records a decree of 167 CE dissolving one collegi(i) Iovi Cerneni ("collegium of Jupiter Cernenus"), a funerary association.[9] Fickett-Wilbar identifies this as a reference to Cernunnos, though he comments that it "tells us nothing about the deity other than his name".[6]: 80–81  Michael Altjohann suggests the byname Cerneni derives from a place-name, rather than a theonym.[10]: 70  Le Roux is also sceptical that it is a reference to Cernunnos, as she thinks an interpretatio of Cernunnos with the Roman god Jupiter would be unlikely.[5]: 328 

A bronze tabula ansata (of the late 2nd to early 3rd century CE) from Steinsel, Luxembourg is dedicated to one Deo Ceruninco ("god Cerunincus"). Though close in name to Cernunnos, the editors of L'Année épigraphique argue that the form of the name entails that it must be another (probably Treverian) god.[11]

Etymology

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The earliest etymology, proposed by Alfred Holder, connected Cernunnos's name with a Celtic word for horn, a reflex of proto-Indo-European *ḱerh₂- ("horn", "hoof"). This etymology has the advantage of a close link with Cernunnos's iconography. However, Ernst Windisch and Leo Weisgerber pointed out that ablaut form of the proto-Indo-European root in Celtic is *karno rather than *kerno.[5]: 325 [12]: 105 [a] Weisgerber proposed that the theonym derived from proto-Celtic *kerno ("angle", "excrescence"), which originates from the same proto-Indo-European root.[12]: 106 [14]: 203  Le Roux analysed Cernunnos as a reflex of *kerno, and argued that his name meant the "top of the head".[5] Vendryes suggested that the name was cognate with the Old Irish word cern ("hero").[15]: 162 

Iconography

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A large number of images of an antlered figures, similar to that depicted on the Pillar of the Boatmen, have been found. These depict a male figure, often aged, with antlers atop his head, who is associated with ram-horned serpents, torcs, wild beasts (especially deer), crossed legs, and cornucopias.[16]: 59–60 [17]: 348  It is conventional to apply to the name of "Cernunnos" to images which fit into this cluster of attributes,[18] though some (such as William Sayers) have questioned whether the name given on the Pillar (which is so rare in epigraphy) was applied to all these images.[17]: 348  At least twenty-five images have been identified as of the Cernunnos-type.[b]

The majority of the images identified as Cernunnos have been found in Gaul, clustered around Paris and Reims. A rock drawing in Valcamonica (Lombardy, Italy) and the figure on Plate A of the Gundestrup cauldron (found in Himmerland, Denmark) are conspicuous geographic exceptions.[6]: 82–83 

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).[12]: 104  The latest classical representations date to the 3rd century CE.[19]: 842  Outside of Gaul, much earlier (pre-Roman) representations of Cernunnos are known.[16]: 59  The drawing from Valcamonica dates to 4th century BCE. Blazquez has argued that a painted vase, dating to the 2nd century BCE, from the Celtiberian site of Numantia, gives another early representation of Cernunnos.[19]: 839  The Gundestrup cauldron, of either Thracian or Celtic work, has been assigned a large range of dates between 200 BCE and 300 CE.[21]: 53 

Among the Celtiberians, horned or antlered figures of the Cernunnos type include a "Janus-like" god from Candelario (Salamanca) with two faces and two small horns; a horned god from the hills of Ríotinto (Huelva); and a possible representation of the deity Vestius Aloniecus near his altars in Lourizán (Pontevedra). The horns are taken to represent "aggressive power, genetic vigor and fecundity."[22]

After Christianisation, images of Cernunnos were the subject of iconoclastic destruction. A statue of Cernunnos from Verteuil (Charente, France) was beheaded[23]: 249  and the horns of Cernunnos on the Reims altar seem to have been purposefully chipped off.[23]: 244  Some scholars (such as Duval and Bober) have suggested that Cernunnos's distinctive iconography persisted into the medieval period.[24]: 121 [20]: 44  Cernunnos has been seen on Insular stone monuments, for example on the north cross at Clonmacnoise, the market cross at Kells, and a stele at Carndonagh.[25]: 32  The figure on the 9th-century Clonmacnoise north cross appears to have horns and crossed legs, though Fickett-Wilbar argues that these are misidentified ornamental motifs.[6]: 85  On the Continent, Cernunnos has been seen in the Stuttgart Psalter and on a capital of Parma Cathedral.[24]: 121  A leaf from the c. 820 Stuttgart Psalter depicts the Descent into Limbo, and has a figure (the devil or Hades), which Bober identifies as Cernunnos, "complete with cross-legged posture, antlers, and even a ram-headed serpent",[20]: 44  though J. R. M. Galpern identifies the features on the figure's head as wings, and connects them with motifs from Late Antique and Roman funerary art.[26]: 254 

Interpretation

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Because of the image of him on the Gundestrup Cauldron, some scholars describe Cernunnos as the Lord of the Animals or the Lord of Wild Things, and Miranda Green describes him as a "peaceful god of nature and fruitfulness"[27] who seems to be seated in a manner that suggests traditional shamans who were often depicted surrounded by animals.[28] Fickett-Wilbar describes Cernunnos as a god of bi-directionality and mediator between opposites, seeing the animal symbolism in the artwork reflecting this idea.[6]

The Pillar of the Boatmen 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 Rheims (Marne, Champagne, France)—in antiquity, Durocortorum, the civitas capital of the Remi tribe—and the stag vomiting coins from Niedercorn-Turbelslach (Luxembourg) in the lands of the Treveri. The god may have symbolized the fecundity of the stag-inhabited forest.[citation needed]

Ram-headed serpent on the Gundestrup cauldron (plate C)

The ram-headed serpent, which appears associated with Cernunnos early as Val Camonica, appears to have had a significance independent of Cernunnos. In Gaul, ram-headed serpents are depicted alone or accompanying Mars or Mercury. Ram-headed serpents also appear on two other plates of the Gundestrup cauldron.[19]: 843 [24]: 46 

The cross-legged pose of Cernunnos has occasioned much comment. Elaborate diffusionist theories have been proposed to explain the origin of this particular motif.[20]: 22–25  Against a diffusionist hypothesis, 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.[6]: 92 [20]: 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.[19]: 842  Representations of Cernunnos standing are known (such as the early example from Val Camonica).[19]: 839 

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  • Rock carving of an antlered figure in the National park of Naquane, Italy.
    Rock carving of an antlered figure in the National park of Naquane, Italy.
  • A Gallo-Roman statue of Cernunnos from Sommerécourt. His horns have been broken off. Two horned snakes feed from a bowl in the figure's hands.
    A Gallo-Roman statue of Cernunnos from Sommerécourt. His horns have been broken off. Two horned snakes feed from a bowl in the figure's hands.
  • The God of Étang-sur-Arroux, probably a depiction of Cernunnos. He has two torcs and two holes at the top of his head, probably to receive deer antlers.
    The God of Étang-sur-Arroux, probably a depiction of Cernunnos. He has two torcs and two holes at the top of his head, probably to receive deer antlers.
  • Possible depictions of Cernunnos on the Lyon cup (also identified as Apollo). A torc-wearing figure reclines next in between a deer and a dog.
    Possible depictions of Cernunnos on the Lyon cup (also identified as Apollo). A torc-wearing figure reclines next in between a deer and a dog.
  • The God of Bouray. This hooved figure with a torc may represent a non-horned variant of Cernunnos.
    The God of Bouray. This hooved figure with a torc may represent a non-horned variant of Cernunnos.
  • The God of Amiens. This deer-eared god represents a type, perhaps related to Cernunnos.
    The God of Amiens. This deer-eared god represents a type, perhaps related to Cernunnos.
  • Cross-legged Hades figure, depicted in the Stuttgart Psalter.
    Cross-legged Hades figure, depicted in the Stuttgart Psalter.
  • A figure, perhaps cross-legged and horned, on the north cross at Clonmacnoise
    A figure, perhaps cross-legged and horned, on the north cross at Clonmacnoise

Cernunnos and Roman gods

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Altar from Reims with Cernunnos in between Apollo and Mercury.

The process of interpretatio romana, by which the Romans identified gods of foreign cults with gods of their own pantheon, is one which Cernunnos seems to have been peculiarly resistant to. He has been compared in this respect with Epona and Sucellus, other Gallo-Roman gods with distinctive iconographies.[29]: 222  Cernunnos is not paired with any Greco-Roman god in epigraphy,[29]: 221  with the exception of perhaps the Dacia inscription.[5]: 328  The iconography of Cernunnos occasionally borrows from that of Mercury,[12]: 104  and one representation of Cernunnos on a stone block from Vendœuvres (Indre, France) seems to have been influenced by depictions of Jupiter Dolichenus.[19]: 842 [20]: 51  However, even when paired with Roman deities (as on the Reims altar), Cernunnos's iconography is distinctly Celtic.[29]: fn 113  It has been suggested that this was because there was no clear Roman equivalent to Cernunnos.[30]: 88 

Cernunnos does not appear in any ancient sources under his native name.[19]: 839  It has been suggested that some passages from ancient authors referring to Celtic gods under Greek or Roman names (per the usual interpretatio romana or graeca) refer to Cernunnos. Caesar's remark that the Gauls regarded themselves as descendants of Dis Pater (Roman god of the underworld) has occasioned much comment. Though Sucellus is the god most commonly identified as behind Dis Pater in this passage, Cernunnos has also been considered as a candidate.[31]: 210  Bober argues that Cernunnos was a "chthonic-fertility" god, like Dis Pater, and therefore that this was a natural identification to make.[20]: 44  A story about the Roman general Sertorius (reported by Plutarch, among others) describes Sertorius's attempts to take advantage of local Lusitanian religious feeling by declaring a white doe a gift of Artemis (Greek goddess of the hunt) and pretending he could use it for divination. The Lusitanians were Celts, and it has been suggested by David Rankin that the god behind this Lusitanian Artemis was Cernunnos.[32]: 558–559  Rankin has also suggested that Cernunnos and Smertrios lay behind the Greek historian Timaeus's description of a cult of the Dioscuri among the maritime Celts, though Andreas Hofeneder regards this as unprovable.[31]: 59–60 

Cernunnos and Insular mythology

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There have been attempts to find the cern root in the name of Conall Cernach, the foster brother of the Irish hero Cuchulainn[33] in the Ulster Cycle. In this line of interpretation, Cernach is taken as an epithet with a wide semantic field—"angular; victorious; prominent," though there is little evidence that the figures of Conall and Cernunnos are related.[34]

A brief passage involving Conall in an eighth-century story entitled Táin Bó Fraích ("The Cattle Raid on Fraech") has been taken as evidence that Conall bore attributes of a "master of beasts."[35] In this passage Conall Cernach is portrayed as a hero and mighty warrior who assists the protagonist Fraech in rescuing his wife and son, and reclaiming his cattle. The fort that Conall must penetrate is guarded by a mighty serpent. The supposed anti-climax of this tale is when the fearsome serpent, instead of attacking Conall, darts to Conall's waist and girdles him as a belt. Rather than killing the serpent, Conall allows it to live, and then proceeds to attack and rob the fort of its great treasures the serpent previously protected. The figure of Conall Cernach is not associated with animals or forestry elsewhere; and the epithet "Cernach" has historically been explained as a description of Conall's impenetrable "horn-like" skin which protected him from injury.[citation needed]

Stained glass depiction of Saint Ciarán from Seir Kieran, County Offaly, Ireland.

Some see the qualities of Cernunnos subsumed into the life of Saint Ciarán of Saighir, one of the Twelve Apostles of Ireland. When he was building his first tiny cell, as his hagiography goes, his first disciple and monk was a boar that had been rendered gentle by God. This was followed by a fox, a badger, a wolf and a stag.[36]

Neopaganism and Wicca

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Within Neopaganism, specifically the Wiccan tradition, the Horned God is a deity that is believed to be the equal to the Great Goddess and syncretizes various horned or antlered gods from various cultures. The name Cernunnos became associated with the Wiccan Horned God through the adoption of the writings of Margaret Murray, an Egyptologist and folklorist of the early 20th century. Murray, through her Witch-cult hypothesis, believed that the various horned deities found in Europe were expressions of a "proto-horned god" and in 1931 published her theory in The God of the Witches. Her work was considered highly controversial at the time, but was adopted by Gerald Gardner in his development of the religious movement of Wicca.[37]

Within the Wiccan tradition, the Horned God reflects the seasons of the year in an annual cycle of life, death and rebirth and his imagery is a blend of the Gaulish god Cernunnos, the Greek god Pan, The Green Man motif, and various other horned spirit imagery.[38][39]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The presence of this ablaut form in proto-Celtic is attested by two Gaulish words for trumpets (karnon and karnyx), Middle Welsh carn ("hoof"), Old Breton carn ("horse's hoof)", and perhaps Old Irish cruë ("hoof"). Semantically similar words with an o vowel (such as two Insular words both meaning horn, Old Irish corn and Welsh corn) are probably loanwords from the Latin (cornu for "horn"), but Gaulish toponyms showing the form might hint at the presence of the reflex *korno ("horn") in proto-Celtic.[13]: 5–6 [14]: 191 
  2. ^ The Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae lists 25 images of Cernunnos.[19]: 839–842  Bober discusses over fifty images in relation to the Cernunnos, though she does not identify all these images as of Cernunnos.[20]: 45–51 

References

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  1. ^ a b c RIG II.1 L-14 via Recueil informatisé des inscriptions gauloises. Accessed on 9 December 2024.
  2. ^ Vertet, M. Hugues (1987). "Observations sur le dieu "Cernunnos" de l'autel de Paris". Bulletin de la Société nationale des Antiquaires de France: 163–177. doi:10.3406/bsnaf.1987.9155.
  3. ^ Whatmough, Joshua (1970). The Dialects of Ancient Gaul: Prolegomena and Records of the Dialects. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  4. ^ Olmsted, Garrett S. (2017). The Gods of the Celts and the Indo-Europeans (Revised ed.). Tazewell, VA.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. ^ a b c d e Le Roux, Françoise (1953). "Cernunnos" (PDF). Ogam. 5: 324–329.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Fickett-Wilbar, David (2003). "Cernunnos: Looking a Different Way". Proceedings of the Harvard Celtic Colloquium. 23: 80–111. JSTOR 25660728.
  7. ^ RIG I G-224 via Recueil informatisé des inscriptions gauloises. Accessed on 9 December 2024.
  8. ^ Evans, D. Ellis (1967). Gaulish Personal Names: A Study of Some Continental Celtic Formations. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
  9. ^ Kloppenborg, John S. (13 December 2018). "[69] Decree Dissolving an Association (167 CE)". Associations in the Greco-Roman World. Retrieved 9 December 2024.
  10. ^ Altjohann, Michael (2003). "Cernunnos-Darstellungen in den gallischen und germanischen Provinzen". In Noelke, Peter (ed.). Romanisation und Resistenz in Plastik, Architektur und Inschriften der Provinzen des Imperium Romanum. Neue Funde und Forschungen. Mainz: von Zabern. pp. 67–79.
  11. ^ "No. 772 (Trois Gaules)". L'Année épigraphique 1987. Presses Universitaires de France. 1990. p. 220. JSTOR 25607525. = "No. 542 (Trois Gaules)". L'Année épigraphique 1989. Presses Universitaires de France. 1992. pp. 167–168. JSTOR 25607598.
  12. ^ a b c d de Vries, Jan (1961). Keltische Religion. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer.
  13. ^ Nussbaum, Alan (1986). Head and Horn in Indo-European. Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter.
  14. ^ a b Matasović, Ranko (2009). Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic. Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series. Vol. 9. Leiden / Boston: Brill.
  15. ^ Vendryes, Joseph (1940). "Prydain et Britanni". In Ryan, John (ed.). Féil-sgríbhinn Eóin Mhic Néill: Essays and Studies presented to Professor Eoin MacNeill. Dublin: Three Candles. pp. 160–166.
  16. ^ a b Green, Miranda (1997). Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 978-0500279755.
  17. ^ a b Sayers, William (1988). "Cerrce, an archaic epithet of the Dagda, Cernunnos and Conall Cernach". Journal of Indo-European Studies. 16: 341–364.
  18. ^ Maier, Bernhard (1997). "Cernunnos". Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture. Boydell Press. pp. 69–70. ISBN 9780851156606.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h Blázquez, José Maria (1988). "Cernunnos". Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae. Vol. 4. Zurich / Munich: Artemis. pp. 839–844.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g Bober, Phyllis Pray (January 1951). "Cernunnos: Origin and Transformation of a Celtic Divinity". American Journal of Archaeology. 55 (1): 13–51. doi:10.2307/501179. JSTOR 501179.
  21. ^ Nielsen, S.; Andersen, J.; Baker, J.; Christensen, C.; Glastrup, J.; et al. (2005). "The Gundestrup cauldron: New scientific and technical investigations". Acta Archaeologica. 76: 1–58. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0390.2005.00034.x. ISSN 0065-101X.
  22. ^ Francisco Marco Simón, "Religion and Religious Practices of the Ancient Celts of the Iberian Peninsula," e-Keltoi: Journal of Interdisciplinary Celtic Studies 6 (2005), p. 310.
  23. ^ a b Kiernan, Philip (2020). Roman Cult Images: The Lives and Worship of Idols from the Iron Age to Late Antiquity. Cambridge University Press.
  24. ^ a b c Duval, Paul-Marie (1976). Les Dieux de la Gaule (2 ed.). Paris: Payot.
  25. ^ Walsh, John; Bradley, Thomas (1991). A History of the Irish Church, 400-700 AD. Columba Press.
  26. ^ Galpern, J. R. M. (1977). The Shape of Hell in Anglo-Saxon England (PhD thesis). University of California, Berkeley. ProQuest 288008512.
  27. ^ Green, Miranda (1992) Animals in Celtic Life and Myth, p. 228.
  28. ^ Aldhouse-Green, Miranda J. (2010). Caesar's Druids: story of an ancient priesthood. New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 86. ISBN 9780300165883. OCLC 808346501.
  29. ^ a b c Webster, Jane (April 2001). "Creolizing the Roman Provinces". American Journal of Archaeology. 105 (2): 209–225.
  30. ^ Van Andringa, William (2007). "Religion and the Integration of Cities in the Empire in the Second Century AD: The Creation of a Common Religious Language". In Rüpke, Jörg (ed.). A Companion to Roman Religion. Oxford University Press. pp. 83–95.
  31. ^ a b Hofeneder, Andreas (2005). Die Religion der Kelten in den antiken literarischen Zeugnissen. Vol. 1. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
  32. ^ Hofeneder, Andreas (2008). Die Religion der Kelten in den antiken literarischen Zeugnissen. Vol. 2. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften.
  33. ^ Porter, A Sculpture at Tandragee, p. 227.
  34. ^ John Koch. (2006) Cernunnos [in] Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia, p. 396. ABC-Clio.
  35. ^ Anne Ross. (1967, 1996). Pagan Celtic Britain: Studies in Iconography and Tradition. Academy Chicago Publishers.
  36. ^ Mac Cana, Proinsias (1973) [1970]. Celtic Mythology. London: The Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited. pp. 47–8. ISBN 0-600-00647-6.
  37. ^ "Forced into the Fringe: Margaret Murray's Witch-Cult Hypothesis". 21 April 2017. Archived from the original on 19 July 2023. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  38. ^ Farrar, Stewart & Janet, Eight Sabbats for Witches
  39. ^ The Rebirth of Witchcraft, Doreen Valiente, page 52-53
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