Kenneth Vennor Morris (31 July 1879 – 21 April 1937), sometimes using the Welsh form of his name Cenydd Morus, was a Welsh author and

theosophist Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

. Born in South Wales, he relocated to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

with his family as a child, and was educated at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553 ...

. In 1896 he lived in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

for a while, where he became friends with

George William Russell George William Russell (10 April 1867 – 17 July 1935), who wrote with the pseudonym Æ (often written AE or A.E.), was an Irish writer, editor, critic, poet, painter and Irish nationalist. He was also a writer on mysticism, and a centra ...

. From 1908 to 1930 Morris lived in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

as a staffperson of the

Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body with the aim to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century CE ...

headquarters at

Point Loma Point Loma (Spanish: ''Punta de la Loma'', meaning "Hill Point"; Kumeyaay: ''Amat Kunyily'', meaning "Black Earth") is a seaside community within the city of San Diego, California. Geographically it is a hilly peninsula that is bordered on the w ...

. The last seven years of his life were spent back in his native Wales, during which time he founded seven Welsh theosophical lodges. Morris was a friend of

Talbot Mundy Talbot Mundy (born William Lancaster Gribbon, 23 April 1879 – 5 August 1940) was an English writer of adventure fiction. Based for most of his life in the United States, he also wrote under the pseudonym of Walter Galt. Best known as the ...

, and the two writers often commentated on each other's work in magazine The

Theosophical Path Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion ...

. According to

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...

, Morris is one of the three master prose stylists of

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

of the 20th century, together with

E. R. Eddison Eric Rücker Eddison, CB, CMG (24 November 1882 – 18 August 1945) was an English civil servant and author, writing epic fantasy novels under the name E. R. Eddison. His notable works include ''The Worm Ouroboros'' (1922) and the Zimiamvian T ...

and

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philology, philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was ...

.Le Guin, Ursula. ''The Language of the Night:Essays on Science Fiction and Fantasy''. Ultramarine Publishing, 1980 (p.88).

Works

*''

The Fates of the Princes of Dyfed ''The Fates of the Princes of Dyfed'' is a fantasy novel written by Welsh author and theosophist Kenneth Morris under the pseudonym Cenydd Morus, a Celticized version of his name, and illustrated by R. Machell. It was first published in hardcove ...

'' (1914) As Cenydd Morus. *''The Secret Mountain and Other Tales'' (1926) *''Book of the Three Dragons'' (1930) *''The Chalchiuhite Dragon: A Tale of Toltec Times'' (1992) *''The Dragon Path: Collected Tales of Kenneth Morris'' (1995)

Notes

References

* Anderson, Douglas A. (1992).
Afterword
. In Kenneth Morris,

'. Theosophical University Press. . Retrieved 28 October 2007. *Anderson, Douglas A. (February/March 1992).

, ''Sunrise''. *Anderson, Douglas A. (February/March 2005).

, ''Sunrise''. *McCaffery, R.J. (Spring 2000). "Kenneth Morris (1879–1937)", ''Eye Dialect'' (Issue Two).

External links

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Works online

* * *

', online edition *

', online edition *Short stories, a play, and book excerpts. 1879 births 1937 deaths 20th-century Welsh writers People educated at Christ's Hospital Welsh fantasy writers Welsh Theosophists {{fantasy-stub