The Religion of the Ancient CeltsMacCulloch, J. A. (John Arnott)
Religion
The Religion of the Ancient Celts
MacCulloch, J. A. (John Arnott)
Celts -- Religion; Mythology, Celtic
The god with the hammer is a gracious bearded figure, clad in Gaulish
dress, and he carries also a cup. His plastic type is derived from that
of the Alexandrian Serapis, ruler of the underworld, and that of
Hades-Pluto.[82] His emblems, especially that of the hammer, are also
those of the Pluto of the Etruscans, with whom the Celts had been in
contact.[83] He is thus a Celtic Dispater, an underworld god, possibly
at one time an Earth-god and certainly a god of fertility, and ancestor
of the Celtic folk. In some cases, like Serapis, he carries a _modius_
on his head, and this, like the cup, is an emblem of chthonian gods, and
a symbol of the fertility of the soil. The god being benevolent, his
hammer, like the tool with which man forms so many things, could only be
a symbol of creative force.[84] As an ancestor of the Celts, the god is
naturally represented in Celtic dress. In one bas-relief he is called
Sucellos, and has a consort, Nantosvelta.[85] Various meanings have been
assigned to "Sucellos," but it probably denotes the god's power of
striking with the hammer. M. D'Arbois hence regards him as a god of
blight and death, like Balor.[86] But though this Celtic Dispater was a
god of the dead who lived on in the underworld, he was not necessarily a
destructive god. The underworld god was the god from whom or from whose
kingdom men came forth, and he was also a god of fertility. To this we
shall return.
2. A bearded god, probably squatting, with horns from each of which
hangs a torque, is represented on an altar found at Paris.[87] He is
called Cernunnos, perhaps "the horned," from _cerna_, "horn," and a
whole group of nameless gods, with similar or additional attributes,
have affinities with him.
(a) A bronze statuette from Autun represents a similar figure, probably
horned, who presents a torque to two ram's-headed serpents. Fixed above
his ears are two small heads.[88] On a monument from Vandoeuvres is a
squatting horned god, pressing a sack. Two genii stand beside him on a
serpent, while one of them holds a torque.[89]
(b) Another squatting horned figure with a torque occurs on an altar
from Reims. He presses a bag, from which grain escapes, and on it an ox
and stag are feeding. A rat is represented on the pediment above, and on
either side stand Apollo and Mercury.[90] On the altar of Saintes is a
squatting but headless god with torque and purse. Beside him is a
goddess with a cornucopia, and a smaller divinity with a cornucopia and
an apple. A similar squatting figure, supported by male and female
deities, is represented on the other side of the altar.[91] On the altar
of Beaune are three figures, one horned with a cornucopia, another
three-headed, holding a basket.[92] Three figures, one female and two
male, are found on the Dennevy altar. One god is three-faced, the other
has a cornucopia, which he offers to a serpent.[93]
(c) Another image represents a three-faced god, holding a serpent with a
ram's head.[94]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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