FSogol's 2018 Advent Calendar Day 11: The Time J.R.R. Tolkien Saved Christmas

[FSogol]

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.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Father_Christmas_Letters

For the next 23 years, every Christmas Eve, Tolkien wrote a letter to his four children from Father Christmas. What began as short, informative letters—“I am just now off to Oxford with a bundle of toys”—evolved into longer tales about life at the North Pole. The 1932 letter begins, “Dear Children, There is alot to tell you. First of all a Merry Christmas! But there have been lots of adventures you will want to hear about. It all began with the funny noises underground … ”

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/tolkien-favorite-father-christmas-santa-holiday-letters

Tolkien continued the practice until 1942. His son Christopher Tolkien posthumously published his father's work in 1976.

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, 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.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Father_Christmas_Letters

some critics believe Tolkien adapted parts of these stories into his epic, Lord of the Rings and the Father Christmas was the model for Gandalf.





The book was republished in 1999 and re-titled "Letters from Father Christmas". It contains some that were left out of the earlier edition.

(For an explanation of my advent project and a link to last years posts, see
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10181152160 )