''The Father Christmas Letters'', also known as ''Letters from Father Christmas'', are a collection of letters written and illustrated by J. R. R. Tolkien between 1920 and 1943 for his children, from

Father Christmas Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrela ...

. They were released posthumously by the Tolkien estate on 2 September 1976, the 3rd anniversary of Tolkien's death. They were edited by

Baillie Tolkien The Tolkien family is an English family of German descent whose best-known member is J. R. R. Tolkien, Oxford academic and author of the fantasy books '' The Hobbit'', '' The Lord of the Rings'' and '' The Silmarillion''. Etymology According ...

, second wife of his youngest son,

Christopher Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρει� ...

. The book was warmly received by critics, and it has been suggested that elements of the stories inspired parts of Tolkien's ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's bo ...

''.

Plot

The stories are told in the format of a series of letters, told either from the point of view of Father Christmas or his elvish secretary. They document the adventures and misadventures of Father Christmas and his helpers, including the North Polar Bear and his two sidekick cubs, Paksu and Valkotukka. The stories include descriptions of the massive fireworks that create the northern lights and how Polar Bear manages to get into trouble on more than one occasion. The 1939 letter has Father Christmas making reference to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, while some of the later letters feature Father Christmas' battles against Goblins which were subsequently interpreted as being a reflection of Tolkien's views on the German Menace.

Publication

The letters themselves were written over a period of over 20 years to entertain Tolkien's children each Christmas. Starting in 1920 when Tolkien's oldest son was aged three, each Christmas Tolkien would write a letter from Father Christmas about his travels and adventures. Each letter was delivered in an envelope, including North Pole stamps and postage marks as designed by Tolkien. Prior to publication, an exhibition of Tolkien's drawings was held at the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University o ...

. These included works from ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...

'', ''The Lord of the Rings'', and ''The Father Christmas Letters''. Johnson (1986): p. 136 The first edition was by

Allen and Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It went on to become one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and to establish an ...

on 2 September 1976, three years after Tolkien's death. The

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

edition was released later that year on 19 October. It was the third work by Tolkien to be released posthumously, after a collection of poems and the ''

Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings Translations of J. R. R. Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'' have been made, with varying degrees of success, into dozens of languages from the original English. Tolkien, an expert in Germanic philology, scrutinized those that were under preparati ...

''. Johnson (1986): p. 133 Edited by

, Drew (1997): p. 421 the second wife of

Christopher Tolkien Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (21 November 1924 – 16 January 2020) was an English academic editor, becoming a French citizen in later life. The son of author and academic J. R. R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien edited much of his father ...

, it includes illustrations by Tolkien for nearly all the letters; however, it omitted several letters and drawings. When the book was republished in 1999 it was retitled ''Letters from Father Christmas'' and several letters and drawings not contained in the original edition were added. Thompson (2007): p. 11 One edition in 1995 featured the letters and drawings contained in individual envelopes to be read in the manner they were originally conceived to be.

Reception

The reception to the first two works published posthumously had been warm, which was subsequently thought to be due to Tolkien's recent death. The response to ''The Father Christmas Letters'' was much more measured and balanced. Jessica Kemball-Cook suggested in her book ''Twentieth Century Children's Writers'' that it would become known as a classic of children's literature, Johnson (1986): p. 188 while Nancy Willard for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

Book Review'' also received the book positively, saying "Father Christmas lives. And never more merrily than in these pages." In 2002, an article in ''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was published ...

'' described the work as rivalling "''The Lord of the Rings'' for sheer imaginative joy".

Influence

Paul H. Kocher, whilst writing for the journal ''Mythprint'', suggested that the creatures in ''The Father Christmas Letters'' may have been a precursor to those which appeared in Tolkien's later works such as ''

'', Johnson (1986): p. 158 a view which was shared by Laurence and Martha Krieg in a review in the journal ''

Mythlore ''Mythlore'' is a biannual (originally quarterly) peer-reviewed academic journal founded by Glen GoodKnight and published by the Mythopoeic Society. Although it publishes articles that explore the genres of myth and fantasy in general, special a ...

'' (issue #14). For example, the 1933 letter features an attack on Polar Bear by a band of goblins. The Kriegs suggested that the wizard

Gandalf Gandalf is a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels '' The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a wizard, one of the ''Istari'' order, and the leader of the Fellowship of the Ring. Tolkien took the name "Gandalf" from the Old Nor ...

may have been developed from Father Christmas. Johnson (1986): p. 159

References

;Sources * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Father Christmas Letters 1976 children's books Christmas literature British children's books Collections of works by J. R. R. Tolkien Books by J. R. R. Tolkien Books published posthumously Houghton Mifflin books Collections of letters Allen & Unwin books Santa Claus in fiction

Plot

Publication

Reception

Influence

See also

References