Cernunnos
The Stag was revered by the Celts as the oldest of animals and it was believed that he lured hunters through the forests to the land of the gods. He allowed himself to be eaten and then was resurrected (symbolising the death of the earth in winter, and it's rebirth in the spring).
It is believed that Cernunnos was originally a Gaulish deity. A huge figure of a man with the antlers of a stag, he is the nearest the Celts came to a universal father figure. He has many other names, The Green Man, Herne, etc. and is affliliated with the gods of many other cultures, Dionysus (Greek), Bacchus (Roman) etc.
Adapted from 'A guide to the Gods' by Richard Carlyon
