While the Celts had closely related languages and religions, there were many regional variations. Over time, the various groups across Europe became even more culturally diverse. Because both the Pillar of the Boatmen and the Luxembourg plaque only include the god’s name, nothing survives of his mythology or any titles or epithets that would further identify him. While Roman writers mentioned other Germanic gods, no one seems to have ever mentioned Cernunnos. Cernunnos may have an etymological link to Conach Cernach, a character from the Ulster cycle. Conach Cernach’s name may have simply meant “triumphant,” but could also mean “angular,” or “cornered,” given its similar etymology to Cernunnos. There were few similarities between the characters, however, and their names may be related simply by chance. Herne the Hunter The antagonist in the video game Perennial is an antlered forest monster, based on Cernunnos, who is turning park visitors into trees. [39] In contemporary scholarship, Cernunnos has become a name used for other Celtic horned gods whose names have been lost to history. There is little evidence to suggest that the name Cernunnos was used outside of Gaul. Nevertheless, academic and religious scholars alike have used the name as a kind of catch-all for Celtic horned gods, as well as horned deities as far afield as India.

Other images identified as Cernunnos do not have the distinctive horns, but there is evidence that they were still important. Some pieces have empty spaces on the head that may have once held either real antlers or ones made of precious materials like gold that have since been lost.Most Celtic gods, therefore, were clearly equated with a Roman deity. Inscriptions call them by Roman names with local epithets, Roman writers mention local names for their gods, or images combine their symbols. The Pilier des nautes 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. The horned god, likely an archetype of close-related gods instead of a singular deity, seems to have been an important figure in Celtic religion. While he is pictured often, however, neither Roman sources nor those of later Germanic and Celtic cultures ever elaborated on this widespread image. To the Romans, this proved the validity of their own religion. All gods were theirs; they were just given different names and seen differently by foreigners.

It is unlikely, then, that a single identical god was worshiped by all Celtic peoples, even in the same era. While their gods belonged to the same archetype, they were known by local names and had their own myths.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.

This is an incredibly exciting discovery, which to me represents more than just the deity, Cernunnos. It almost seems like the enigmatic ‘face’ of the people living in the landscape some 2,000 years ago. The artifact is Roman in origin but symbolizes a Celtic deity and therefore exemplifies the continuation of indigenous religious and cultural symbolism in Romanised societies.Phyllis Fray Bober, "Cernunnos: Origin and Transformation of a Celtic Divinity," American Journal of Archaeology 55 (1951), p. 15ff. Overall, Cernunnos is a complex deity who has been associated with many other gods and goddesses throughout history. While these associations are not always clear-cut, they provide insight into the various roles and attributes that Cernunnos has been associated with over time. Cernunnos Mythology Cernunnos and Modern Interpretations God of the Witches Bernard Maier, Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture (Alfred Kröner, 1994; Boydell, 2000), p. 69. They claim that Cernunnos began as a forest god. He was specifically associated with the bounty that could be found there. The Green Man is a bit of a sensation. This legendary pagan entity is commonly depicted as a man’s head surrounded by – or entirely made out of – foliage. Other interpretations show the Green Man as having leaves sprouting from his mouth and eyes. There is little evidence of who the Green Man truly was, though he is usually surmised as being a nature deity.