Herne the Hunter

Herne the Hunter - Celtic God of the Forest

Also Known As: Cernunnos, The Horned God

Herne the hunter is an Ancient forest lord associated with the Windsor Forest. He is revered as the protector of the trees, and known in Celtic mythology as the God of nature, fertility, life, and animals. The earliest mentions of Herne comes from Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor written in 1597:

There is an old tale goes that Herne the Hunter,
Sometime a keeper here in Windsor Forest,
Doth all the winter-time, at still midnight,
Walk round about an oak, with great ragg'd horns;
And there he blasts the tree, and takes the cattle,
And makes milch-kine yield blood, and shakes a chain
In a most hideous and dreadful manner.
You have heard of such a spirit, and well you know
The superstitious idle-headed eld
Receiv'd, and did deliver to our age,
This tale of Herne the Hunter for a truth.

Cold Cast Bronze