Tolkien wished Mick a merry Christmas.  After his retirement, so the Professor told, he was short of money, but Allen & Unwin paid his royalties for the very popular The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (8,000 copies sold prior to publication) in advance.  Arcrene Wisse was in the process of being printed, and Gawain and Pearl were to be, the following year.  Tolkien looked forward to working on the legends of Númenor.  Also, a "Festschrift" was in the works, containing a prefatory ode by W.H. Auden, and contributions by 22 Anglists.  It was the plan of Rayner Unwin and Norman Davis (Tolkien's successor), to commemorate Tolkien's 70th birthday, the following January 3.