On December 24, 1920, our familiar from the “Lord of the Rings” J. R.R. Tolkien sat down at his desk and wrote a letter to his three-year-old son, John, who a few days earlier had asked him about Father Christmas. In arachnid script and red ink, Tolkien replied as Father Christmas (the figure of English folklore now identified with Saint Basil) and with a return address of ‘Christmas House, North Pole’.

The accompanying image he created has all the grace of the visual artistry of the world famous author. A figure dressed in red, with a long white beard and a pink nose walks in the snow (https://www.instagram.com/p/CzhDQu7LzIh/). His dome-like home from a wintry hillside shimmers, atop a staircase lit by lanterns.

For the next 23 years and every Christmas Eve, the unforgettable storyteller wrote a letter from Father Christmas to his four children. What began as short letters of information – “I have just started for Oxford with a parcel of toys” – developed into longer stories about life at the North Pole. The 1932 letter begins “Dear Children, There is much to tell you. First of all, Merry Christmas. But there were many adventures you would like to hear about. It all started with funny noises underground…”

What follows is a story about a lovable polar bear, mysterious caves full of tolls and their heroic counterparts, the Red Dwarfs (https://www.instagram.com/p/CX3x33RLoB_/). As in The Hobbit, which Tolkien wrote and published around this time, the letters contain entire worlds, with languages ​​and stories invented by the author alongside detailed illustrations (https://www.instagram.com/p/ CmkTkpyvyTK/).

Even the methods of delivering the letters were as authentic as possible. They were given to his children in envelopes with North Pole stamps – two kisses per letter – and Tolkien later convinced the postman to include them in the postal delivery (https://www.instagram.com/p/CmpB491t7hW/ )

In 2024, we will be able to see these letters in the exhibition ‘Tolkien: The Maker of Middle Earth’ – along with a treasure trove of other Tolkien creations – which will be hosted at the Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford (https:// www.instagram.com/p/C0ZWNC9L7Cu/). Three years ago, a festive edition of Letters from Father Christmas was released, commemorating 100 years from Tolkien’s first letter to his first-born son in 1920 to his last letter to his daughter in 1943 (https:/ /www.instagram.com/p/CmN0S5RtwDn/). Not without reason, he is called “our favorite Father Christmas”.