Dear Father Christmas

As I was doing my research to find 25 different Christmas-themed books, I found out about an absolutely lovely book from the Tolkien clan.  It seems that between the years of 1920 and 1943, J.R.R. Tolkien's children wrote letters to Father Christmas and Father Christmas (Tolkien himself) replied!  The collection was collected and edited after Tolkien's death by Baillie Tolkien, his daughter in law.  It was originally published as The Father Christmas Letters on September 2, 1976, the third anniversary of Tolkien's death.  It was warmly received by critics and some of them have even suspected that what he wrote in these letters helped to inspire Tolkien's epic, The Lord of the Rings.  Today it is known as Letters From Father Christmas.



The first letter from Father Christmas arrived on December 22, 1920, when John Francis Tolkien was three.  Michael Hilary Tolkien was two months old, so the letter is only addressed to John.  It's a short letter that answers a single question: where Father Christmas lives.  It was accompanied by a drawing.  That letter would set the tone for the next twenty three years.

Every letter is accompanied by drawings and images of the letter that Father Christmas wrote.  In the first decade or so, the letters are written by Father Christmas with the occasional help of the Polar Bear.  We get snapshots of what was going on in the family's lives through the letters, such as in 1927, when Father Christmas wrote that he heard the family hand an Icelandic visitor.  The same year, he writes only to Michael and Christopher, ages 7 and 3, saying that John, age 10, hadn't written to him.  He supposes that Christopher is too old to be writing to Father Christmas and that soon he will stop hanging his stocking.  But Father Christmas will not forget John.

The letter in 1929 is the first one not addressed to "the boys".  This time, it's addressed "Dear Boys and Girl".  In June, the Tolkiens welcomed a long hoped for daughter, Priscilla.

As the letters pass through, Father Christmas and Polar Bear are joined by Red Gnomes and Snow Men, Snow Elves and the Polar Bear's nephews, Paksu and Volkotukka.  1936 introduces Ilbereth the Elf, Father Christmas' secretary.  This is perhaps the first true appearance of a Tolkien Elf; The Hobbit wasn't published until the next year.

The last letter in the book is written solely to fourteen-year-old Priscilla, saying that it will be the last one.  He supposes that Priscilla will follow after her brothers and be too old to hang up her stocking, but he will not forget her.  Written in 1943, Father Christmas himself writes about how it is grim--"I think they mean miserable: and so it is, I fear, in very many places where I was specially fond of going." The Second World War has touched even these lighthearted letters.  Tolkien's three sons were all serving in the War, so it's not surprising.

I loved this collection.  Its' a special kind of magic that I want to share with my own children, when I have them.  If you have children of your own, I would recommend sharing these letter with them too.  Everyone will laugh over the shenanigans of Father Christmas, Polar Bear, and the cubs.

Merry Christmas, one and all.