Letters From Father Christmas

Each December an envelope bearing a stamp from the North Pole would arrive for J.R.R. Tolkien’s youngsters. Inside can be a letter in a wierd, spidery handwriting and an exquisite coloured drawing or portray. The letters have been from Father Christmas.

They advised great tales of life on the North Pole: how the reindeer received free and scattered presents far and wide; how the accident-prone North Polar Bear climbed the North Pole and fell via the roof of Father Christmas’s home into the eating room; how he broke the Moon into 4 items and made the Man in it fall into the again backyard; how there have been wars with the troublesome horde of goblins who lived within the caves beneath the home, and lots of extra.

No reader, younger or outdated, can fail to be charmed by Tolkien’s inventiveness on this traditional vacation deal with.