druids

druids, the priests of the pre‐Christian Celts. Greek and Roman writers describe the druids of Britain and the Continent as an elite class who presided over sacrifices, foretold the future, and claimed to possess special knowledge concerning the gods, the universe, and the fate of the soul. In Ireland the existence of figures called druid (singular druí; rendered in Latin as magus) is attested in legal writings at least as late as the 8th century: the word is evidently the same, but in sources of the Christian period it is often debatable whether it means more than ‘magician, soothsayer’.

In medieval literature druids are often portrayed as followers of pagan kings, whom they usually serve as prophets. Some details resemble the accounts of the classical writers: Cathbad, chief druid of the Ulaid in the Ulster Cycle, is described as having pupils, and a few texts speak of rituals which the druids performed in order to foretell the future. In tales set in the pre‐Christian and conversion periods, they figure as defenders of paganism: thus there are several stories of St Patrick's victories over the druids of Lóegaire mac Néill.

John Price Carey