Question on Herne

[Wildflower557]

Is Herne considered a god? For some reason I want to call the Lord Herne, but I recently looked his name up on google, and some myths came up about him being a man and a hunter. And he committed suicide. Is Herne a god or just a man who was part of a myth?

[Simply Puzzled]

Herne is definitely a god. The stories about him are just that, stories. I wouldn't try to take them literally.

[ancestral_lee]

he was a real man who lived a few hundred years ago. he was gamekeeper for one of the old kings of england and was responsible for looking after the royal windsor estate iirc.

he wasnt a god. he was a man. he has been elevated to demigod status by modern pagans, after stories of his ghost hunting in windsor park became assimilated into the Wild Hunt myth.

[Nantonos]

So now you have two responses, contradictory. I suggest you be guided by the one that provides supporting evidence :)

[MorningDove030202]

History asside, Herne is definatly a God in the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel, a Wiccan trad local to me. He's one of the Patron Gods of one ASW coven, Guardians of the Windsword. They have written two chants (with recordings) to Herne at this page: http://www.seeliecourt.net/panpipe/

Herne Who Hears (July '98)

Herne Who Hears All Living Things. Hear Our Call To You
Herne Whose Name All Nature Sings. Hear Our Call To You
Moon Stag, Horned One, Green Man, God
Draw Near, Come Here, Be Here, Now

By Ivo Dominguez, Jr.


Herne, Hunter Of Souls

Herne, Hunter Of Souls
We Hear Your Horn,
We Hear Your Hounds
Throughout The Starry Woods
Herne, Hunter Of Souls
In Underworld And Overworld
Your Hunt Goes Ever On

By Ivo Domínguez, Jr. © - (Voice: Ivo Domínguez, Jr.)

[Simply Puzzled]

So now you have two responses, contradictory.

They aren't necessarily contradictory. Herne was in fact a man. On his death, he simply absorbed the mythology of a much older god. As Doreen Valiente points out, the name Herne is an onomatopoeia for the sound a deer makes. What better name could you give to a horned deity than the sound a deer makes during fertile season. Sort of like naming a cow god "Moo." This sound closely resembles the name Kernunnos, especially because the -nos ending was tacked on later as part of the linguistic gender of Gaulish. And Cernunnos is definitely older than even Winsdor Park.

To say that because there was a historical man and therefore he is just a later god is to misunderstand mythology. Remember, in Celtic mythology which has had a strong influence on British mythology, people were often associated with a god after their death. A great poet might be called the Second Talesin after his death and eventually the Second is dropped until there is now new mythology surrounding Talesin.

To say that the stories are just that, stories, not be taken literally, that doesn't mean that none of it is true, it's just similar to reading the Bible and trying to take everything literally. It's not that none of it is true; it's just that you miss the point if you take it literally.

[Wildflower557]

Thank you so much for your responses. They have helped me out a great deal. I feel more comfortable calling him Herne now, and I've done a bit more research. I think he has come to me in meditation, but here's the weird part. His body is that of a stag's, his torso is that of a human's, his face is human, and he has antlers. He is like a mix of centaur/human/and stag. In my heart I know he is Herne, though I do not know why he comes to me looking like that. Probably cause I think it looks cool and he knows this ....

[Nantonos]

They aren't necessarily contradictory.

Thanks for providing the rationale for your position. :cheers:


Herne was in fact a man. On his death, he simply absorbed the mythology of a much older god.

Well, a long time after his death, but yes. Now, the much older god is of course well attested - but the question was about Herne, not Cernunnos.


As Doreen Valiente points out, the name Herne is an onomatopoeia for the sound a deer makes. What better name could you give to a horned deity than the sound a deer makes during fertile season. Sort of like naming a cow god "Moo."
Yes, I agree with this point.


This sound closely resembles the name Kernunnos, especially because the -nos ending was tacked on later as part of the linguistic gender of Gaulish.
Quick clarification, since you bring it up:

-on- is a divinising infix, unrelated to gender
-os is indeed a masculine gender ending
it was lost later, as Gallo-Brittonic became Old Welsh



And Cernunnos is definitely older than even Winsdor Park.
Undoubtedly true, although not what the original poster asked.