Kenneth Morris (1) (1879–1937)

Kenneth Morris's stories have a considerable reputation, so I bought this.
I did not read most of it until going through rehabilitation after a hip replacement in late 2016- early 2017.
All the stories include very lush description, many of nature and others of fantastic cities. They are written from a obviously theosophical point of view (Morris was an active theosophist teacher in both Britain and the theosophist colony at Point Loma, California). He tends to read all non-Christian faiths as theosophical, including not only the Welsh druidism as recreated by Iolo Morganwd, but also, Chinese, Islamic. Norse and Greek. One tale takes one of my favorite Chinese stories (Peach Tree Inlet) and spoils it by making the protagonist much less agreeable than in the original, but most are better than that. "The Regents of the North" is one of the most beautiful expressions of what Lewis called "the Northern Thing" that I have ever read. it is about an old Norse pagan chief who exiles himself from the new Christian kingdom of Sweden (he wants to fight the Christian king, but the king refuses) finds shelter for a while wth the Lapps, and then rides out in a one-reindeer slay to the ultimate north.Pursued by wolves, he frees his reindeer and stays to hold off the wolves --but finds at the end he is not fighting alone, for the old gods are beside him. "The Temple of the Baby Apollo" is set in the similar transition from Greek paganism to Christianity, with ugly Christian mobs roaming around looking for pagan temples to sack and priests to slay. That did happen, as Christian writers attest, some with pious joy and some with horror. The shrine of the baby Apollo has one last beautiful young priestess, carrying on the rites for her aged father, and one worshiper, the shepherd Leonidas, who worships her rather than the god, and being rejected, sics the Christian mob on her --then repents and is sent off to save her father while the priestess faces the mob --but on their way, the Christians meet an adorable baby and are turned aside. Morris sees the child as Apollo, but I think some of the mob might be right in thinking it si the Christ child… (meer)