![]() “It was the biggest bang in the world, and the most monstrous firework there ever has been. The mischief of a magical family unsettles Nature herself: His servants misbehave, his North Polar Bear must be nursed through whooping cough, and there are Elves to entertain and Goblins to vanquish. “If John can't read my old shaky writing (1925 years old) he must get his father to.” Fortunately age does not prevent the writer from sending richly detailed paintings of his house, his sleigh gliding over Oxford (“Your house is just about where the three little black points stick up out of the shadows at the right”), and the misadventures that make these letters such lively reading.įather Christmas plays den father to an extended family of elves, snow boys and polar bears, but his magic fails to protect him from the crises that plague large families. ![]() ![]() ![]() The facsimiles included show a handwriting that is shaky but elegant. In “The Father Christmas Letters” Tolkien's daughterin‐law, Bane Tolkien, collects and edits them for our enjoyment. The first arrived in 1920 when Tolkien's oldest son was 3, and they continued to arrive for 20 years thereafter. They received a letter from Father Christmas every year. But what I really wanted, and sever got, was an answer from the mysterious giver. As foretold by my parents, the presents I asked for arrived. ![]() The first letter I ever wrote went not to a friend but to a stranger who, I was told, dropped down people's chimneys on Christmas eve and left presents like an eccentric millionaire. ![]()
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