Deities associated with deer?

[Alice]

Are there any deities associated with deer or a similar animal?
I was walking through the woods and a doe in close proximity stared at me for almost a minute. It was most likely a coincidence, but I'm curious all the same. ^^ thanks.

[veggiewolf]

Are there any deities associated with deer or a similar animal?
I was walking through the woods and a doe in close proximity stared at me for almost a minute. It was most likely a coincidence, but I'm curious all the same. ^^ thanks.

IIRC, Saraswati is associated with red deer.  I think Artemis has a deer association as well, as does the Cailleach Bheara?

(Corrections are welcome if I'm wrong.)

[Sage]

Are there any deities associated with deer or a similar animal?
I was walking through the woods and a doe in close proximity stared at me for almost a minute. It was most likely a coincidence, but I'm curious all the same. ^^ thanks.

Herne and Cernnunos, off the top of my head. I think there's at least one Kemetic deity related to gazelles but that might be stretching it a bit.

[Faemon]

Are there any deities associated with deer or a similar animal?
I was walking through the woods and a doe in close proximity stared at me for almost a minute. It was most likely a coincidence, but I'm curious all the same. ^^ thanks.

Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór are deer that browse the Yggdrasil in Norse mythology.

[dreamweaver]

Are there any deities associated with deer or a similar animal?
I was walking through the woods and a doe in close proximity stared at me for almost a minute. It was most likely a coincidence, but I'm curious all the same. ^^ thanks.

 
Flidais

Diana

Freyr has an association with antlers.

[Gilbride]

IIRC, Saraswati is associated with red deer.  I think Artemis has a deer association as well, as does the Cailleach Bheara?

(Corrections are welcome if I'm wrong.)

 
Yes, the Cailleach is a protector of deer herds and sometimes an enemy of hunters.

[Gilbride]

Flidais

Diana

Freyr has an association with antlers.

According to Noemi Beck, Flidais is a medieval fiction and was never a pre-Christian goddess.

[Tanbrid]

According to Noemi Beck, Flidais is a medieval fiction and was never a pre-Christian goddess.

Could you provide a source for this? Upon a search I found this:
 http://theses.univ-lyon2.fr/documents/lyon2/2009/beck_n#p=0&a=top

I guess this should be moved to another thread- (we could start one here or in the Neo-Druid or Hazel & Oak SIG)

[Tanbrid]

Are there any deities associated with deer or a similar animal?

Fionn mac Cumhal, while a hero technically is associated with deer, as are his family members- wife Sabh, who was turned into a doe, son Oisin (meaning little deer) Interesting speculative article here by John Machate:
Fionn mac Cumhal: The Stag/Hunting God of Ireland
http://thunderpaw.com/neocelt/

[Sophia C]

IIRC, Saraswati is associated with red deer.  I think Artemis has a deer association as well, as does the Cailleach Bheara?

(Corrections are welcome if I'm wrong.)

The Scottish Cailleach does - I haven't heard this about Bhearra. Gobnait, Bhearra's Christian maybe-counterpart, has a deer connection, though.

Elen of the Ways always pops up for me when I hear about deer goddesses, probably because a good friend of mine honours her.

[Louisvillian]

Are there any deities associated with deer or a similar animal?

Yes, plenty. Hunting was a vital part of life even in complex, urban societies; much moreso the further you went from the cities, into the rural areas. And deer constituted a significant portion of game animals. Just about any deity associated with the hunt was associated with deer.
Artemis of Greek myth was, I believe, originally a huntress; she attained her associations with the moon and many other things only over a gradual development. She was always most strongly connected to deer, bears, boar, and other woodland animals, as well as the wilderness itself.
There have been similarities drawn between Artemis and the Gaulish goddess Artio, who was also centred on wilderness and bears. And we all know of the equation made by the Romans between Artemis and their own Diana.

Cernunnos is another deity associated with deer. But we don't know near as much as we pretend to about him. He's depicted as an antlered man with a torc around his neck, occasionally seated like a hunter in repose. We can infer that he has to do with hunting, but that's about it. Anything else is just speculation.

Someone else mentioned Herne the Hunter. That's more of an example of a folkloric figure than a deity. Herne doesn't appear any earlier than the late 16th century; and even then he's merely described as a haunting ghost of Windsor forest. Any attempts to place it earlier, whether as a palaeolithic hunting spirit, a Celtic god like Cernunnos, or a Saxon mythological character, are inconclusive. Again, much of it is just speculation. The earliest written information about the figure indicate more along the lines of him being based on a historical figure that died in a gruesome way, and was made into a ghastly character in folklore.

[dreamweaver]

According to Noemi Beck, Flidais is a medieval fiction and was never a pre-Christian goddess.

 
That's interesting. I didn't know that but then I've never done any research on Flidais, so I may well be wrong.

[veggiewolf]

The Scottish Cailleach does - I haven't heard this about Bhearra. Gobnait, Bhearra's Christian maybe-counterpart, has a deer connection, though.
...

I always mix up the Cailleachs.

[Fireof9]

According to Noemi Beck, Flidais is a medieval fiction and was never a pre-Christian goddess.

 
I would beg to differ, but that is my own experience.

[Sage]

I would beg to differ, but that is my own experience.

 
A suggestion: Gilbride's comment wouldn't necessarily negate the existence of a Flidais, nor any relationship one would build with Her. Ideas and the beings associated with them are incredibly powerful. So whether or not there was a pre-Christian goddess various Celtic peoples would have called Flidais, She may very well be active in the world today.