Editing Cernunnos (section)

===Pillar of the Boatmen===
{{further|Pillar of the Boatmen}}
{{multiple image|
|header=Cernunnos on the Pillar of the Boatmen
|image1=Pilier des Nautes Cernunos.jpg
|caption1=Its present state
|image2=Gaulish deity Cernunnos.jpg
|caption2=18th century drawing
|total_width=400
}}
The Pillar of the Boatmen is a Gallo-Roman carved pillar discovered in 1711 under the [[Choir (architecture)|choir]] of [[Notre-Dame de Paris]]. It is a religious monument, with depictions of Roman gods ([[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]], [[Vulcan (mythology)|Vulcan]], and [[Castor and Pollux]]) alongside native Gaulish deities (such as [[Esus]] and [[Smertrios]]), dedicated by a corporation of boatmen from the city of [[Lutetia]] (Roman [[Paris]]). The dedication dates it to the reign of [[Tiberius]] (14-37 CE).<ref name=L14>''[[Recueil des inscriptions gauloises|RIG]]'' II.1 [https://riig.huma-num.fr/documents/PAR-01-01 L-14] via ''Recueil informatisé des inscriptions gauloises''. Accessed on 9 December 2024.</ref> Legends below the images identify the Roman and Gaulish deities by name. In fact, this is the only monument on which Celtic deities are identified by name with captions.<ref name=Altjohann/>{{rp|67–71}}

On one block from the pillar, a frowning, bearded figure is depicted from the shoulder up. His face is human, but his upper head is animal-like: hairless and bulging. Atop his head is a pair of [[wikt:bifid|bifid]] deer's antlers, with two short, pointed extrusions (perhaps ears or bull's horns) between them. A torc hangs on each of his antlers. The lower half of the block is lost, but given its original height, the figure could not have been standing. Therefore (in line with other figures identified as Cernunnos) the panel is often believed to have originally shown him cross-legged.<ref name=L14/><ref name=Vertet>{{cite journal |last=Vertet |first=M. Hugues |title=Observations sur le dieu "Cernunnos" de l'autel de Paris |date=1987 |journal=Bulletin de la Société nationale des Antiquaires de France |volume=1985 |pages=163–177 |doi=10.3406/bsnaf.1987.9155 }}</ref>{{rp|165}}

Above the antlered figure is a one-word legend. When information about the pillar was published in 1711, this legend was reported as "Cernunnos". However, the block is now badly damaged. Many of the letters are only partially visible; the letter "C" is entirely gone.<ref name=L14/> [[Joshua Whatmough]] has gone as far as to say that in its present state "only 'nn' is certain".<ref name=Whatmough>{{cite book |title=The Dialects of Ancient Gaul: Prolegomena and Records of the Dialects |location=Cambridge, MA |publisher=Harvard University Press |date=1970 |last=Whatmough |first=Joshua |isbn=978-0-674-20280-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/dialectsofancien0000what |url-access=registration }}</ref>{{rp|517}} The reading from 1711 has sometimes been mistrusted. [[Joseph Vendryes]] and Whatmough argue (following the Dacia inscription) that it read "Cernennos".<ref name=Olmsted>{{cite book |title=The Gods of the Celts and the Indo-Europeans |last=Olmsted |first=Garrett S. |date=2017 |edition=Revised |url=https://www.academia.edu/38135817 |location=Tazewell, VA }}</ref>{{rp|335}} {{ill|Françoise Le Roux|fr}} was sceptical about the existence of the final "s".<ref name=LeRoux/>{{rp|324}}