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Another alternative inspiration or source for Vaunus is Silvanus. Like Faunus, he was a rustic Roman divinity, associated primarily with the forests, but one who had no official temple in Rome. However, he became a popular deity in the northern Roman provinces, including Britain, where he seems to have been more popular than Faunus. While the latter is known only through the Thetford hoard, multiple altars were dedicated to Silvanus across Britain. He was often equated with Roman gods, such as Mars at Housesteads on Hadrian’s Wall, as well as local deities such as Vinotonus on Scargill Moor in County Durham. Intriguingly, at Lydney in Gloucestershire, he is equated with Nodens, the Celtic god that inspired some of the weird works of Arthur Machen.
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