In 1920, author J.R.R. Tolkien’s oldest child, John, was three years old. He asked his father about Father Christmas, and Tolkien was glad to answer his questions. When John wrote a letter to Santa, Tolkien wrote a short reply in disguised handwriting. The next year, and for 23 years afterward, Tolkien’s letter from Father Christmas arrived for his children, eventually four of them. The letters got longer and more involved, with Father Christmas telling stories about what happened at the North Pole that year that involved goblins, polar bears, elves, and world events. And they were illustrated with his drawings! Tolkien seemed to be testing stories and story elements that later became incorporated into his books.
The letters from Father Christmas continued until 1943, when his youngest child Priscilla was 14, at which time he wrote a farewell letter, promising not to forget them. Read about Tolkien’s years of writing in the voice of Father Christmas and the tales he spun at Mental Floss.
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Source: neatorama