Editing Horned Serpent (section)

===In Europe===

==== In Celtic iconography ====
[[Image:Gundestrupkedlen- 00054 (cropped).jpg|thumb|The antlered deity of the [[Gundestrup cauldron]], commonly identified with [[Cernunnos]], holding a ram-horned serpent and a [[torc]].]]
The ram-horned serpent was a cult image found in north-west Europe before and during the Roman period. It appears three times on the [[Gundestrup cauldron]], and in Romano-Celtic Gaul was closely associated with the horned or antlered god [[Cernunnos]], in whose company it is regularly depicted. This pairing is found as early as the fourth century BC in Northern Italy, where a huge antlered figure with [[torc]]s and a serpent was [[rock drawings in Val Camonica|carved on the rocks]] in [[Val Camonica]].<ref name="GreenHorned">{{cite book |last=Green |first=Miranda |title=Animals in Celtic Life and Myth |pages=227–8}}
Celtic Mars: carving at the curative sanctuary at Mavilly (Cote d'Ôr).
Celtic Mercury: carving at Beauvais (Oise) and Néris-les-Bains (Allier).
Association with the solar wheel: Gundestrup cauldron, altar at Lypiatt (Gloucestershire).
</ref>

A bronze statuette called the [[God of Étang-sur-Arroux]] and a stone sculpture from [[Sommerécourt]] depict Cernunnos' body encircled by two horned snakes which feed from bowls of fruit and corn-mash balanced in the god's lap. Also at Sommerécourt is a sculpture of a goddess holding a [[cornucopia]] and a pomegranate, with a horned serpent eating from a bowl of food. At [[Yzeures-sur-Creuse]] a carved youth has a ram-horned snake twined around his legs, with its head at his stomach. In a [[relief]] at a museum in [[Cirencester]], Gloucestershire, Cernunnos' legs are depicted as two ram-horned snakes which rear up on each side of his head and are eating fruit or corn. [[Image:Cernunnos, Roman relief, Corinium Museum.jpg|thumb|Relief of Cernunnos with two ram-horned snakes in the [[Corinium Museum]].]]

According to Miranda Green, the snakes reflect the peaceful nature of the god, associated with nature and fruitfulness, and perhaps accentuate his association with regeneration.<ref name="GreenHorned"/>

Other deities occasionally accompanied by ram-horned serpents include "Celtic Mars" and "Celtic Mercury". The horned snake, and also conventional snakes, appear together with the solar wheel, apparently as attributes of the sun or sky god.<ref name="GreenHorned"/>

==== In Northern and Central Europe ====
Variations on the horned serpent appear throughout the folklores of Northern and Central Europe. For example, there are the many incarnations of the [[Lindworm]]. There are tales of a serpent in Icelandic folklore known as the [[Lagarfljót Worm]]. While in Southern Sweden, there are claims of a huge water snake, the sight of which was deadly, called [[Storsjöodjuret]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=1999-08-29 |title=3 sightings may shed light on Sweden 'lake monster'|url=https://www.deseret.com/1999/8/29/19463099/3-sightings-may-shed-light-on-sweden-lake-monster|access-date=2021-12-24|website=[[Deseret News]] |language=en}}</ref> This latter characteristic is reminiscent of the [[basilisk]].

==== Greek ====
{{Main|Cerastes}}

The cerastes is a creature described in [[Greek mythology]] as a snake with either two large [[Sheep|ram]]-like horns or four pairs of smaller horns. [[Isidore of Seville]] described it as hunting by burying itself in sand while leaving its horns visible, and attacking creatures that came to investigate them.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast532.htm |website=Medieval Bestiary |title= Cerastes |access-date= 2018-01-04 |date=2011-01-15}}</ref>