
They told wonderful tales of life at the North Pole: how all the reindeer got loose and scattered presents all over the place how the accident-prone Polar Bear climbed the North Pole and fell through the roof of Father Christmas's house into the dining-room how he broke the Moon into four pieces and made the Man in it fall into the back garden how there were wars with the troublesome horde of goblins who lived in the caves beneath the house! Sometimes the Polar Bear would scrawl a note, and sometimes Ilbereth the Elf would write in his elegant flowing script, adding yet more life and humour to the stories. Inside would be a letter in strange spidery handwriting and a beautiful coloured drawing or some sketches. Every December an envelope bearing a stamp from the North Pole would arrive for J.R.R. Not very wise for of course goblins can’t hurt HIM but their caves are very dangerous.” The snow, the entrance to treacherous caves and the smell of goblin will be instantly familiar to readers of the book Tolkien was working on at the time, The Hobbit, the first of the adventures of Middle-earth.Published to celebrate the first ever 'letter from Father Christmas' in 1920, this beautiful oversized edition of Tolkien's famous illustrated letters from 'Father Christmas', includes a wealth of charming letters, pictures and decorated envelopes, and promises to be a festive feast for Tolkien fans of all ages. He slid down a rocky slope, more rock fell on him, and he could not climb back: “But almost at once he smelled goblin & became interested & started to explore. In one letter Polar Bear “found a hole in the side of a hill & went inside because it was snowing”.

Many recount the adventures of his friend and helper the Polar Bear – in 1926 he accidentally switched on all the Northern Lights – or the goblins who attempted to steal the stored presents in 1932. One showed his reindeer and sleigh arriving over the Oxford skyline – “your house is just about where the three little black points stick up out of shadow on the right”. Some years Father Christmas was evidently very busy, and could only pass on the briefest snippets of news, and other years, when he had time on his hands, he could include elaborate multi-layered paintings. The illustrated letters continued to arrive every Christmas Eve, sometimes delivered by a postman who had been persuaded to include them with the more boring letters and cards, sometimes materialising on the hearth rug with a handmade stamp. The 1932 letter told how goblins had attempted to steal presents stored ready for Christmas.
