In fantasy, druids are often portrayed as wise and knowledgeable hermits, well learned natural scholars that have herbs and concoctions for many purposes. Their relationship with society is complex, as they may occupy an important spiritual role for their community, but may feel closer to the wild, its inhabitants, and its spirits than any tribe or clan.

The concept of the barbarian is as old as civilization itself, finding its origins as far away in history as the founding myths of the great city of Uruk, thousands of years before any Roman or even ancient Chinese used the epithet to mock the people of their periphery.