Editing Horned God (section)

==Art, fantasy and science fiction==
[[Image:Francisco de Goya y Lucientes - Witches' Sabbath - WGA10007.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Francisco de Goya]]'s ''[[Witches' Sabbath (1789)|Witches Sabbat]]'' (1789), which depicts [[the Devil]] flanked by Satanic witches. The Witch Cult hypothesis states that such stories are based upon a real-life pagan cult that revered a horned god.]]

In 1908's ''[[The Wind in the Willows]]'' by [[Kenneth Grahame]], in Chapter 7, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn", Ratty and Mole meet a mystical horned being, powerful, fearsome and kind.<ref name="Clifton"/>{{rp|85}} Grahame's work was a significant part of the cultural milieu which stripped the Greek god Pan of his cultural identity in favor of an unnamed, generic horned deity which led to Murray's thesis of historical origins.

Outside of works that predate the publication of Murray's thesis, horned god motifs and characters appear in fantasy literature that draws upon her work and that of her followers.

The 1947 short story "Cwm Garon" by [[L. T. C. Rolt]] (published in Rolt's collection ''Sleep No More'') describes a traveller encountering a remote Welsh village, where the inhabitants worship a demonic entity that appears as a horned god.<ref>{{Cite book
|title=The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|first=Ronald
|last=Hutton
|year=2021
|isbn=978-0-192-56228-9}}
</ref>{{rp|275}}

In the novel ''[[Childhood's End]]'' (1953) by [[Arthur C. Clarke]], all humans have a collective premonition, also described as a memory of the future, of horned aliens which arrive to usher in a new phase of human evolution. The collective subconscious image of the horned aliens is what accounts for mankind's image of the devil or Satan. This theme is also explored in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' story ''[[The Dæmons]]'' in 1971,  where the local superstitions around a landmark known as The Devil's Hump prove to be based on reality, as aliens from the planet Dæmos have been affecting man's progress over the millennia and the Hump actually contains a spacecraft.  The only Dæmon to appear is a classic interpretation of a horned satyr-like being with hooves.

In the 1950s TV series created by [[Nigel Kneale]], ''[[Quatermass and the Pit]]'', depictions of supernatural horned entities, with specific reference to prehistoric cave-art and shamanistic horned head-dress are revealed to be a "race-memory" of psychic [[Martian]] grasshoppers, manifested at the climax of the film by a fiery horned god.<ref>White, Eric (1996). "Once they were men: Now they're Landcrabs: Monsterous Becomings in Evolutionist Cinema", in
{{Cite book
|title=Posthuman Bodies
|publisher=John Wiley & Sons
|first=J
|last=Halberstam
|year=1996
|isbn=0-253-20970-6}}
</ref>{{rp|244}}

The 1956 novel ''The Golden Strangers'' by [[Henry Treece]] features a "Hornman", a priest of the "Children of the Sun" tribe. The Hornman performs numerous [[human sacrifice]]s while wearing a hood with stag's horns attached to it. According to historian Marion Gibson, Treece based the Hornman character on Murray's conception of the Horned God.<ref name="gibson">{{Cite book
|title=Imagining the Pagan Past: Gods and Goddesses in Literature and History Since the Dark Ages
|publisher=Taylor and Francis
|first=Marion
|last=Gibson
|year=2013
|isbn=978-1-135-08254-3}}
</ref>{{rp|144}}

The [[Philip José Farmer]] novel ''[[Flesh (Farmer novel)|Flesh]]'' depicts a future society where the protagonist, Peter Stagg, adopts the role of the "Horned King". The Horned King serves as a figure of male fertility to a goddess-worshipping female priesthood, and resembles Murray's conception of the Horned God.<ref>{{Cite book
|title=Understanding Contemporary American Science Fiction: The Formative Period (1926-1970)
|publisher=University of South Carolina Press, 1990
|first=Thomas D.
|last=Clareson
|year=1990
|isbn=978-0-872-49689-7}}
</ref> {{rp|143}}

In some of [[Rosemary Sutcliff|Rosemary Sutcliff's]] novels, including the medieval-set novel ''[[Knight's Fee (novel)|Knight's Fee]]'' (1960) and the [[Arthurian]] novel ''[[Sword at Sunset]]'' (1963), several of the heroes worship a stag-antlered deity called the Horned One. The depiction of this deity is similar to that given in Murray's writings.<ref>{{cite magazine
| first= C. W.
| last= Sullivan
| date        = May 1987
| title       = Review: "Sword at Sunset"
| magazine    = Fantasy Newsletter
| location    = Boca Raton
| publisher   = Florida Atlantic University
}}
</ref>{{rp|48}}
<ref>{{Cite book
|title=Embracing the Darkness
|publisher=Bloomsbury
|first=John
|last=Callow
|year=2017
|isbn=978-1-786-73261-3}}
</ref>{{rp|203}}

Murray's theories have been seen to have had influence on the horror film ''[[The Blood on Satan's Claw]]'' (1971), where a murderous female-led cult worships a horned deity named [[Behemoth]].<ref>
Hunt, Leon (2001). "Necromancy in the UK: Witchcraft and the occult in British horror", in
{{Cite book
|title=British Horror Cinema
|publisher=Routledge
|first=Steve
|last=Chibnall
|author2=Petley, Julian
|year=2001
|isbn=0-415-23004-7}}
</ref>{{rp|94}}

In the fantasy novel ''Too Long A Sacrifice'' by [[Mildred Downey Broxon]] (1981), a male character, Tadhg, is an [[avatar]] of a benevolent Horned God.<ref>{{cite magazine
| first= Joan
| last= Grant
| date        = March 1985
| title       = Review: "Too Long A Sacrifice"
| magazine    = Fantasy Newsletter
| location    = Boca Raton
| publisher   = Florida Atlantic University
}}
</ref>{{rp|26}}

[[Marion Zimmer Bradley]], who acknowledges the influence of Murray, uses the figure of the "horned god" in her feminist fantasy transformation of [[King Arthur|Arthurian myth]], ''[[Mists of Avalon]]'' (1984), and portrays ritualistic incest between King Arthur as the representative of the horned god and his sister [[Morgan le Fay|Morgaine]] as the "spring maiden".<ref>
{{Cite book
|title=The Search for a Woman-centered Spirituality
|publisher=New York University Press
|first=Annette
|last=van Dyke
|year=1992
|isbn=0-8147-8770-3
|url=https://archive.org/details/searchforwomance00vand
}}
</ref>{{rp|106}}

In the [[Richard Carpenter (screenwriter)|Richard Carpenter]] television series ''[[Robin of Sherwood]]'' (1984), [[Robin Hood]] is taught and guided by a [[shamanism|shaman]]-like figure called [[Herne the Hunter]] (a figure from English legend). Herne wears a headdress of a horned stag's head. Carpenter stated in an interview that Herne was based on the [[Modern Paganism|Pagan]] idea of the Horned God.<ref>
{{cite magazine
| first= Abbie
| last= Bernstein
| date        = February 1990
| title       = Legends of the Hooded Man : Richard Carpenter interview
| magazine    = Starlog
| location    = New York
| publisher   = Brooklyn Company, Inc.
}}
</ref>{{rp|33}}

In June 1986, the comic book [[2000 AD (comics)|''2000&nbsp;AD'']] published the first part of a serial story called ''[[Sláine (character)|Sláine and the Horned God]]'', written by [[Pat Mills]] and illustrated by [[Simon Bisley]]. Based in Celtic mythology, the Horned God is identified with [[Cernunnos]] and is the primary antagonist in a story rich with antagonists. He presents as a Fertility God who has largely lost his mind and become nihilistic.<ref>{{Cite book
|title=500 Comicbook Villains
|publisher=Collins and Brown
|first=Mike
|last=Conroy
|year=2004
|isbn=1-843-40205-X}}
</ref> {{rp|282}}

The titular smith of the [[Fay Sampson]] novel ''Black Smith's Telling'' (1990) is depicted as the leader of a benevolent "Old Religion" that worships a Horned God.
<ref>{{cite magazine
| first= Pauline 
| last= Morgan
| date        = March 1985
| title       = Review: "Black Smith's Telling"
| magazine    = Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Review Annual 1991
| location    = Westport, Connecticut
| publisher   = Greenwood Press
}}
</ref>{{rp|505}}

The 1992 ''[[Discworld]]'' novel ''[[Lords and Ladies (novel)|Lords and Ladies]]'', by [[Terry Pratchett]], features a King of the Elves who is strongly reminiscent of the Horned God.  Although not worshipped by [[Witches (Discworld)|the witches]] who are the heroines of the book (indeed, quite the reverse), they temporarily ally themselves with him out of necessity.

The 1995 fantasy novel ''The Wild Hunt'' by [[Jane Yolen]] features a supernatural being named the Horned King, who resembles the Horned God, as the novel's antagonist.<ref>{{Cite book
|title=Pagan Themes in Modern Children's Fiction
|publisher=Bloomsbury
|first=Peter
|last=Bramwell
|year=2009
|isbn=978-0-230-23689-9}}
</ref>{{rp|51}}

In the popular video game ''[[The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind|Morrowind]]'', its expansion ''[[The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon|Bloodmoon]]'' (2003) has a plot enemy known as Hircine, the Daedric god of the Hunt, who appears as a horned man with the face of a deer skull. He condemned his "hounds" ([[werewolves]]) to walk the mortal ground during the Bloodmoon until a champion defeats him or Bloodmoon falls. When in combat, Hircine appears as a horned wolf or bear.

The historical novel ''The White Mare'' (2004) by Jules Watson, set in Scotland in the year 79&nbsp;CE, features a scene where the heroine is partnered with a priest of the Horned God during a religious ceremony.<ref name="gibson" />{{rp|163}}

The historical novel ''[[Outlaw (novel)|Outlaw]]'' (2009) by [[Angus Donald]], has [[Robin Hood]] take part in a violent [[pagan]] ceremony where Robin plays the part of Cernunnos, here named as the Horned God.<ref>{{Cite book
|title=Robin Hood : myth, history and culture
|publisher=Oldcastle Books
|first=Nick
|last=Rennison
|year=2012
|isbn=978-1-842-43247-1}}
</ref> {{rp|76}}

[[Tim Powers]]' novella ''Salvage and Demolition'' (2013) involves a quest for a manuscript written by a being called [[Aker (deity)|Aker]], who is also designated as the Horned God.<ref>{{Cite book
|title=Stay
|publisher=Beccon Publications
|first=John
|last=Clute
|year=2012
|isbn=9781870824637}}
</ref>  {{rp|120}}

The 2015 film ''[[The Witch (2015 film)|The Witch]]'', which takes place in 17th century New England during the latter end of the [[Witch trials in the early modern period|early modern inquisition against witchcraft]] that swept across Europe, deals with an interpretation of the Horned God, which takes the form of Black Phillip, the family goat.