Thursday, January 28, 2021

The New York Times Book Review on Fates

A recently discovery is a short review of Kenneth Morris's first novel, The Fates of the Princes of Dyfed (as by Cenydd Morus), on its original publication in 1914. This appeared in The New York Times Book Review, November 29, 1914, in unsigned column “Books for Christmas Gifts”. 

Before she felt the charm of those legends of Ireland which she has so gracefully retold, Lady Gregory was an eager student of Welsh folklore. Now, through the enlightened scholarship of Cenydd Morus, some specimens of this most interesting mythology are made accessible to readers ignorant of Cymric. “The Fates of the Princes of Dyfed” (Point Loma, California. Aryan Theosophical Press.) is an elaborate reconstruction of ancient Welsh mythology. The framework of the plot is taken from “The Four Branches of the Mabinogi.”  But the author has been more interested in recreating the spirit and the atmosphere of the bygone days than in keeping close to the letter of the text that has come down to us. His thought is Theosopphical, but the book is not a piece of propaganda, it is a work of art. And R. Machell’s sympathetic illustrations in black and white greatly increase this singular book’s value.