Vulcan

Vulcan is the god of fire including the fire of volcanoes, deserts, metalworking and the forge in ancient Roman religion and myth. He is often depicted with a blacksmith's hammer. The Vulcanalia was the annual festival held August 23 in his honor. His Greek counterpart is Hephaestus, the god of fire and smithery. In Etruscan religion, he is identified with Sethlans.
Vulcan belongs to the most ancient stage of Roman religion: Varro, the ancient Roman scholar and writer, citing the Annales Maximi, records that king Titus Tatius dedicated altars to a series of deities including Vulcan.
The origin of the name Volcanus is unclear, with Roman tradition suggesting it was related to Latin words related to lightning and flames. Other theories suggest it was related to the Cretan god Velchanos, a god of nature and the nether world. Wolfgang Meid and Vasily Abaev have proposed a matching theonym in the Ossetic legendary smith of the Nart saga Kurd-Alä-Wärgon, but this hypothesis is considered unacceptable. Christian-Joseph Guyonvarc'h has proposed the identification with the Irish name Olcan. Gérard Capdeville finds a continuity between Cretan Minoan god Velchanos and Etruscan Velchans, with the Minoan god's identity being a young deity, master of fire, and companion of the Great Goddess. Martin L. West suggests Volcanus may represent a god of fire named *Volca, attached to the suffix -no-, the typical appendage indicating the god's domain in Indo-European languages.
Category:God
Category:Religion
Category:Roman Pantheon