If you search for Celtic gods, you will probably bump into his name and possibly find some visual references, but none of them can give us much conclusion about his personality, function or appearance.

Even his name is not certain. The name Cernunnos comes from inscriptions found in some places that may refer to the same deity. One of them is under the Cathedral of Notre Dame, in Paris in a pillar known as Pillar of the Boatmen. The other similar inscription remains in Luxemburg as “Deo Ceruninco”.

All the inscriptions and images that seem related to Cernunnos are from Roman times, even though the Roman religion was endorsed, local gods were also worshiped. This was one of the ways the Romans found to keep peace and order throughout the Empire.

There are many different representations identified as Cernunnos, but they all depict him with the same similar characteristics: antlers, seated cross-legged and always associated with stags, horned serpent and other beasts, also he is usually holding or wearing a torc around his neck.

One of the most famous images from Cernunnos – or at least we think it’s him – is carved on the Gundestrup Cauldron. The cauldron is a decorated silver vessel, dated around 150 BC and 1 BC. It is the largest known example of European Iron Age silver work from this age. It is now on display in the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen. But the earliest depictions of him were found at Val Camonica, in northern Italy, which by that time was under Celtic.

Now, what is Cernunnos really about?

Not very much, I’m afraid. The name Cernunnos is the name given to the horned god featured in Roman-era, mostly in Gaul and Iberia. Some things we know are that he was worshipped as “the lord of wild things” and should be really powerful.

As the god of wild things, he was held as god of uncivilised and wild animals, trees and fruits. This way we can also assume the Horned One could also have had some relation as a god of fertility and life, maybe a source of vitality or virility.

We can also relate Cernunnos to the mythological Greek god Pan and the Roman Silvanus. Both were horned gods and ruled the forests, promoting the natural world and wild animals and instincts. It is also possible that the cult of the Horned god could have inspired catholics to connect his image with the devil, helping to fight paganism in central Europe.

Cernunnos unfortunately was lost in history and scholars are doing the best they can to find more information about him as there were no written registers by that time. Let’s hope they can help us understand the Horned One a bit better as soon as possible.

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It’s really difficult to start talking about King Arthur, so I will do it gradually by explaining first how his story hit me.

Back in the 80’s, when I was born, I watched a movie that would change everything to me. There were knights, magic, prophecies and a legendary sword, crafted by the gods and destined to be wield by the true king of the Brittons. 

I’m not here to talk – only – about the movie, but about the passion it brought to my life. Excalibur was released in 1981 and tells the story of King Arthur, beginning with how his father, Uther Pendragon, mated with Igrane, his mom, and the quest for the holy grail carried by his knights to save the land.

By that time, I was really young and had already heard something about the mythical king, his personal counsellor, the wizard Merlin, and the sword of power that, for me, was only a long iron stick nailed in a random stone in the middle of the forest, but even though I was curious about it. 

I remember the first time I saw Merlin saying his mysterious Charm of Making: “Anál nathrach, orth’ bháis’s bethad, do chél dénmha“. An Old Irish charm to change things with the breath of the Dragon, an omnipresent serpent. Nor I could forget the epic speech he gave to the knights while King Uther wield Excalibur:

“Behold Excalibur! The sword of power! Forged when birds and beasts and flowers were one with Man, and death was but a dream!”

I was fascinated and massively hooked. 

That was the first story I’ve ever loved. The boy who took the sword of power from the stone and became the king that one day would hold all the best values that any man to come should bear.

I had the opportunity to see part of my idol’s land and history by visiting Tintagel’s Castle where, if real, the King was supposedly conceived. All the atmosphere around King Arthur is magical and has a taste of nobility. 

The accounts of King Arthur date back from the 5th century AD, when the Romans decided to retreat from Britain for good and leave the Britons to their fate in the hands of the Saxons, a people native from Northern Germany. The Saxons were ruthless just as their Norse gods.

We do not know for sure how the legend of Arthur came to be. Maybe he was only a soldier, just as the movie of 2004 showed, a Roman general trying to avoid a massacre. Maybe he was a real Britton king, defending his land with all he’s got.

The earlier stories I could find about our beloved king didn’t have anything to do with Lancelot or the Holy Grail. His name is first mentioned in Historia Brittonum, written by the Welsh monk of the 9th century, Nennius. Nennius was followed by Geoffrey of Monmouth, in the 11th century, in his Historia Regum Britanniae and found its final format in Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur, where we can finally find his quest for the holy relic.

I understand that

Arthur, whatever the version, had to overcome brutal enemies and came across pain, loss and victory. He and his Knights of the Round Table would be forever associated with the ideals of the knighthood and also would be the base for the chivalry in the centuries to come, inspiring people until this day. I am one of them. 

I see him as the one person that would fight with no rest to give his people peace, prosperity and justice. Fair to the very core and prepared to sacrifice himself without hesitation. To me it was very easy to decide to follow his path as much as I could, because I saw these same values and strengths in my first – and still – great hero, my own father. I couldn’t be more inspired to always be my finest version every day.

The great King, historical or not, will always be in my mind pushing me to always do and be my best. King Arthur opened my eyes to many things and to all the things that I love and inspired me and my wife to start this company. We will keep being curious and inspired and hoping we help you do the same.

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