"The first attempt to look at the changing figure of the druid from classical times to the present. There are two main versions of "druidism": the nascently Christian priest and the shaman. Both these images have their roots in the representations of druids, saints, warriors and poets found in medieval Celtic literature." "The book begins with a survey, from the perspectives of folklore, anthropology and archaeology, of what little we know about druids in the Celtic Iron Age. It then looks at the image of the druid in medieval texts. The third section assesses the religious and political agendas underlying the resurgence of interest in druidism in eighteenth-century Britain. The final section looks at the image of the druid in the twentieth century as it appears in popular films and television, in books aimed at the New Age and Neo-Pagan markets, and in on-line discussions on the information superhighway."--BOOK JACKET.