# Father Christmas Letters (merged)



## Tao (Mar 5, 2002)

*Did you know...?*

Did you know that JRR Tolkien wrote a picture book (illustrations not by him) that I think was called 'Lettters from Christmas' that is about 40 pages...? I found that kind of weird, but that's just *my* opinion.


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## Lillyaundra (Mar 5, 2002)

Yes! I agree I thought he was only a fantasy writer but when I checked it out of the Library, It made sence. he had a polar bear language and it was simply his type of writing. But it is not exactly like him to do a Picture book I agree. I think it may have been one of his first of last writings. That would make sence.     

I love Smilies.


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## Eonwe (Mar 6, 2002)

I was bought that book a while ago. Its neat, its his writings to Christopher and his other children around Christmas time, from Santa. Cool Dad to have -- a writer like Tolkien!


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## Lillyaundra (Mar 6, 2002)

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!

That makes sense. You are smart!! hehe


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## Hama (Mar 6, 2002)

These are the Father Christmas Letters, right?
I haven't even found a copy in a bookstore.


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## Ramagna (Jan 5, 2003)

*Letters of Father Cristmas*

Someone read them?
I just got them for present, although I'm no christ I get presents for christmas, nice, isn't it?
I just began with them, but I think they're just another good piece of literature from Tolkien, something best to read to your children...


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## tom_bombadil (Jan 20, 2003)

Yes i have read them i found them very funny and an enjoyable read i got them for christmas


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## 33Peregrin (Feb 2, 2003)

I just got them from the Library a few days ago. I read one or two and found them rather enjoyable. I decided they would be better to read around Christmas, so I will check them out again next December.


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## Se-maj#617 (Apr 1, 2003)

*Has anyone read the christmas letters.*

Hey it's me Se-maj#617

I was just wondering if anyone has read the Christmas letters. I noticed he never used Gnomes in his stories. But they were a big help to him in the Letters. And also in the letters Goblins were about as harmful as mice. But now they're big man eating monsters.


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## YayGollum (Apr 1, 2003)

I read them a while ago. Don't remember anything but the pictures now. My evil father ran away and took all of my evil mom lady's good LOTR books.  oh well. There was some crazy stuff in there.


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## Gothmog (Apr 2, 2003)

Se-maj#617, Tolkien did indeed use "Gnomes" in his stories of Middle-earth, at least when he started writing them. If you read The Book of lost tales You will find in there that he first used that name for some of the Elves. Later the Gnomes became the Noldor.

In the notes and commentry of the Book of Lost Tales I can be found the following


> Gnomes: the Second Kindred, the Noldoli (later Noldor).


 And


> I conclude this commentary with a note on my father's use of the word Gnomes for the Noldor, who in the Lost Tales are called Noldoli. He continued to use it for many years, and it still appeared in earlier editions of The Hobbit.* In a draft for the final paragraph of Appendix F to The Lord of the Rings he wrote:
> 
> I have sometimes (not in this book) used 'Gnomes' for Noldor and 'Gnomish' for Noldorin. This I did, for whatever Paracelsus may have thought (if indeed he invented the name) to some 'Gnome' will still suggest knowledge.Now the High-elven name of this people, Noldor, signifies Those who Know; for of the three kindreds of the Eldar from their beginning the Noldor were ever distinguished both by their knowledge of things that are and were in this world, and by their desire to know more. Yet they in no way resembled the Gnomes either of learned theory or popular fancy; and I have now abandoned this rendering as too misleading. For the Noldor belonged to a race high and beautiful, the elder Children of the world, who now are gone. Tall they were, fair-skinned and grey-eyed, and their locks were dark, save in the golden house of Finrod...


 Hope that helps.


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## Aiwendil2 (Apr 2, 2003)

Indeed, I think that the "Gnomes" in the Father Christmas Letters can be equated in some general way with the Gnomes=Noldor of the early versions of the mythology. Of course, that's not to say that these Gnomes _are_ Noldor. But they're certainly intended to be Elvish rather than like Gnomes from D&D.


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## Se-maj#617 (Apr 2, 2003)

*O.K.*

Hey, O.K. i agree about the gnomes, but what about the goblins that i mentioned in my first post?


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## Aiwendil2 (Apr 2, 2003)

You're right, the goblins in the Father Christmas Letters do seem much weaker than those in the Legendarium. But did you have some question or concern about that? If not and you were just making an observation, then I certainly agree.


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## HLGStrider (Apr 5, 2003)

The Father Christmas Letters were written for his children. . .big, man eating Goblins are not what most three year olds want to hear about on Christmas night. The little ones were more managable.

Does anyone remember the Elf's name? I only got them once out of the library and I can't remember. It was a name used in the Trillogy or Sil, I think, but I can't remember for sure.

They are a very seperate work for the LotRs.


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## Lantarion (May 3, 2003)

It was in fact _Ilbereth_! And in his 'spidery signature', you can actually discern that they are a very archaic form of the Tengwar!


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## Eru (Oct 30, 2003)

*Letters to Father Christmas*

I was wondering if anyone else other that me has read "Letters to Father Christmas" by Tolkien? It shows an interesting insight to Tolkien as a man, and a father.


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## omnipotent_elf (Nov 1, 2003)

Is Tolkien santa too? ( sorry, had to say that)
yeah, it is interesting


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## Starbrow (Nov 2, 2003)

I enjoy the Father Christmas letters too. I hope I have a chance to reread them during the holidays.


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## Eledhwen (Nov 29, 2003)

I am enjoying a full-colour edition of Letters From Father Christmas right now (I've got kids - an excellent excuse to buy it). I love the drawings and the detail - right down to the North Pole Christmas stamps. I love the North Polar Bear, and Father Christmas' elaborate excuses for not always providing all the children ask for. Goblins have their uses!

The Guild of Tolkienologists were talking about this book recently, and many of the Guild are from Eastern Europe where the book seems to be unavailable. If anyone knows if and where an e-version is available, please let me know.


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## Manwe (Dec 9, 2003)

Ive never read the letters but my family has a copy and my brother seems to like it so I might read it too.


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## FoolOfATook (Dec 9, 2003)

Yeah, the North Polar Bear is great.

Since the illustrations and the different styles of writing JRRT used for the different character's letters are so important, an e-version would be somewhat deficient, unless someone scanned the whole book and posted it as a serious of image files...


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## Eledhwen (Nov 6, 2004)

*Christmas is coming!*

Amazon have the book here in the UK, and here in the US.

I think the Letters from Father Christmas show just how in tune JRRT was with children and their fantasies. Adults, of course, are just children who got older. I really love reading this book! I never realised how many problems Father Christmas has had in trying to get everything ready on time, especially with goblin attacks, and the North Polar Bear trying to help!

*Re: Letters to Father Christmas*

A quote from the letter sent by Father Nicholas Christmas to the Tolkien children on December 21st 1933:


> My dears. Another Christmas! and I almost thought at one time (in November) that there would not be one this year. There would be the 25th of December, of course, but nothing from your great-great-etc. grandfather at the North Pole.
> 
> Goblins. The worst attack we have had for centuries. They have been fearfully wild and angry every since we took all their stolen toys off them last year and dosed them with green smoke. You remember the Red Gnomes promised to clear all of them out. There was not one to be found in any hole or cave by New Year's day. But I said they would crop up again - in a century or so.
> 
> They have not waited so long! They must have gathered their nasty friends from mountains all over the world, and been busy all the summer while we were at our sleepiest. This time we had very little warning....


My favourite illustrations in the book are the Chrsitmas tree of 1934, and the portrait of FC wrapping presents in 1931.

There is a short phrase in elvish in the letter to Priscilla in 1937, written by Ilbereth, FC's secretary elf. Does anyone know what it says? It's not translated.

*Copyright Infringement?*

When I saw the Father Christmas HQ on "Rise of the Guardians", I recognised it immediately! The top image is from the film, the bottom one is fromTolkien's "Letters from Father Christmas". See what you think....


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## Starbrow (Mar 30, 2013)

The set designer must have read Tolkien. I wonder if the polar bear is there, too.


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## Eledhwen (Mar 31, 2013)

Starbrow said:


> The set designer must have read Tolkien. I wonder if the polar bear is there, too.


 They even copied the windows glowing out of the ice underneath the house. This was FC's second home (according to Tolkien), the first having been demolished after a freak accident involving Father Christmas' hat. I now feel compelled to buy the video and see if the influences are limited to FC's HQ. This makes me realise what a hopelessly lost cause I am.


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## feanorfrogstar (Mar 11, 2017)

I have a question.In the swedish version i got there are only a few pictures of the letters does the english version have pictures of all the letters?

Is there an edition where you get to read copies of the written letters and not the letters printed in machine text? I have looked in the 70s edition and swedish edition and they dont have many of the letters.


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## Barliman (Jul 29, 2018)

I know it's an old thread, but thought I'd share.

I thought I had this copy





But only seem to have these two (the boxed set is small, as you can see by the quarter I included for reference)











On a personal note, when my kids were quite young, but I'd read them the Letters from Father Christmas, they refused to let their mom or me see their "letters to Santa" with what they wanted for christmas. So I created an email account [email protected] and told them he liked email now. I'd leave the room and let them send him emails.
After that we could get them things they actually wanted.


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## Olorgando (Aug 21, 2019)

I have a landscape format hardcover entitled “Letters from Father Christmas, Edited by Baillie Tolkien”, “Published in Great Britain in 1995 by Collins Children’s, a division of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.”

It has ten letters in it, each one inserted into an envelope glued to the back side of a page with a color facsimile of the original envelope’s front side, and with an actually withdrawable glossy paper facsimile of the original letter (thankfully with a printed “translation” of the content on the back side, as JRRT sometimes overdid the “shaky handwriting” bit in his actual writing).

L1: 1920, addressed to John (Jr.)
L2: 1925, addressed to “My dear boys” (John and Michael; Christopher was practically still a newborn)
L3: 1926, addressed to “My dear boys”
L4: 1928, addressed to “My dear boys”
L5: 1930, addressed to “My dears” (Priscilla had arrived)
L6: 1931, addressed to “My dear Children”
L7: 1933, addressed to “My dears”
L8: umm … no date, a picture, no text
L9: umm … like L8
L10: 1937, written by Ilbereth, addressed to "Dear Children”

Between each of these letter / envelope leaves there are further ones with pictures and writing (perhaps from the other letters) on both sides. The last page has the contents of the short Last (farewell) Letter.

I got this as a present. You’ll never guess at what occasion: my 25th anniversary at the company (I’d given them a list of books and music at their request to keep them wandering on unprofitable paths). I can imagine some never-before-or-since looks of bewilderment on some faces at this. 😄


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## Starbrow (Aug 21, 2019)

That sounds like a wonderful gift.


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## Olorgando (Aug 22, 2019)

Oh, very much so. I'm still a bit surprised that got picked out of the list I had provided. Possibly a secret JRRT fan (I mostly experienced blank stares from people on the very rare occasions I ever mentioned anything about the Professor - even if it was LoTR! 🙄 )


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