TARANIS

(Celtic: Thunderer), powerful Celtic deity that was one of three mentioned by the Roman poet Lucan in the 1st century AD; the other two were Esus (Lord) and Teutates (God of the People). According to later commentators, Taranis' sacrificial victims, either human or animal, were placed in great wickerwork images, which were then burned. Taranis was symbolically represented by the wheel and the lightning flash. He was sometimes shown riding down a great serpent-footed monster, which represented a divinity or gigantic power of some unknown significance.