glimpses of elvish writing and the Goblin Alphabet.

Father Christmas' elf-secretary Ilbereth (progenitor of Elbereth?).

While the Letters from Father Christmas do not relate to the Middle-earth of Tolkien's legendarium, some parts of the content can be noted: And never more merrily than in these pages.' In 2002, an article in The Independent on Sunday described the work as rivalling ' The Lord of the Rings for sheer imaginative joy'. Jessica Kemball-Cook suggested in her book Twentieth Century Children's Writers that it would become known as a classic of children's literature, while Nancy Willard for The New York Times Book Review also received the book positively, saying 'Father Christmas lives. The response to The Father Christmas Letters was much more measured and balanced. The reception to the first few works of Tolkien published posthumously had been warm, which was subsequently thought to be due to the author's recent death. In this edition all of the Father Christmas letters and artwork not appearing in the first edition were included. The book was revised in 1999 and was retitled Letters from Father Christmas. The Houghton Mifflin edition was released later that year on 19 October. The first edition was published by Allen and Unwin in 2 September 1976, three years after Tolkien's death. These included works from The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and The Father Christmas Letters. Prior to publication, an exhibition of Tolkien's drawings was held at the Ashmolean Museum. Each letter was delivered in an envelope, including North Pole stamps and postage marks as designed by Tolkien. 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.

The letters themselves were written over a period of over 20 years to entertain Tolkien's children each Christmas. 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. 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 are told in the format of a series of letters, told either from the point of view of Father Christmas or his elvish secretary.

Christmas letters tolkien