Letters From Father Christmas

Letters From Father Christmas, known as The Father Christmas Letters in earlier editions, are a collection of letters written and illustrated by J.R.R. Tolkien between 1920 and 1942 for his children, from Father Christmas.
The Letters were released posthumously by the Tolkien estate on September 2, 1976, the 3rd anniversary of Tolkien’s death. They were edited by Baillie Tolkien, second wife of his youngest son, Christopher Tolkien. The book was warmly received by critics, and it has been suggested that elements of the stories inspired parts of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
==Plot==
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 Ilbereth. They document the adventures and misadventures of , described as the brother of Green Brother and son of Grandfather Yule, and his helpers, including the North Polar Bear and his two sidekick cubs, Paksu and Valkotukka. 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.
The 1939 letter has Father Christmas making reference to the Second World War, while some of the later letters feature Father Christmas' battles against Goblins, which were subsequently interpreted as being a reflection of Tolkien's views on the German foe in the War.
==Publication==
The letters themselves were written over a period of over 20 years to entertain Tolkien's children each Christmas. 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. Each letter was delivered in an envelope, including North Pole stamps and postage marks as designed by Tolkien.
Prior to publication, an exhibition of Tolkien's drawings was held at the Ashmolean Museum. These included works from The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, and The Father Christmas Letters. The first edition was by Allen and Unwin on 2 September 1976, three years after Tolkien's death. The Houghton Mifflin edition was released later that year on 19 October. It was the third work by Tolkien to be released posthumously, after a collection of poems and the Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings. Edited by Baillie Tolkien, the second wife of Christopher Tolkien, it includes illustrations by Tolkien for nearly all the letters; however, it omitted several letters and drawings.
When the book was republished in 1999 it was retitled Letters From Father Christmas and several letters and drawings not contained in the original edition were added. One edition in 1995 featured the letters and drawings contained in individual envelopes to be read in the manner they were originally conceived to be.
Editions
*1976: The Father Christmas Letters. London: George Allen & Unwin; Boston: Houghton Miflin. (48 pages long, omits the letters from 1920-1924 and from 1939-1942)
*1995: Letters From Father Christmas. London: CollinsChildren'sBooks; Boston: Houghton Mifflin. (Facsimiles of letters with envelopes, with three previously unpublished pictures)
*1999: Letters From Father Christmas. London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin. (Revised and enlarged edition)
*2004: Letters From Father Christmas. London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
*2012: Letters From Father Christmas. London: HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
==Reception==
The reception to the first two works published posthumously had been warm, which was subsequently thought to be due to Tolkien's recent death. The response to The Father Christmas Letters was much more measured and balanced. 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. 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".
==Influence==
Paul H. Kocher, whilst writing for the journal Mythprint, suggested that the creatures in The Father Christmas Letters may have been a precursor to those which appeared in Tolkien's later works such as the Lord of the Rings, a view which was shared by Laurence and Martha Krieg in a review in the journal Mythlore (issue #14). For example, the 1933 letter features an attack on Polar Bear by a band of goblins. The Kriegs suggested that the wizard Gandalf may have been developed from Father Christmas.
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Die Vader Kersfees Briewe
Albanian 	Letrat e Krishtlindjeve të Atit
Amharic 	የገና አባት የገና ደብዳቤዎች
Arabic 	الأب رسائل عيد الميلاد
Armenian 	Հայր Սուրբ Ծնունդ Նամակներ
Azerbaijani 	Ata Milad Məktubların
Basque 	Aita Gabonetako gutunak
Belarusian Cyrillic	Лісты Святога Мікалая
Bengali 	পিতা ক্রিসমাস অক্ষর
Bosnian 	Otac Božićna pisma
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Отец Коледните писма
Burmese 	ခမညျးတျောခရစ္စမတ်ပေးစာ
Cambodian 	លិខិតរបស់ព្រះវរបិតាសួគ៌
Catalan 	Les cartes del Pare Noel
Croatian 	Oče Božićne pisama
Czech 	Otec vánoční dopisy
Danish 	Julemandens breve
Dutch 	Brieven van de Kerstman
Esperanto 	La Patro Kristnasko Leteroj
Estonian 	Isa jõulud tähed
Finnish 	Kirjeitä Joulupukilta
French 	Lettres du Père Noël
Galician 	As cartas do Pai Nadal
Georgian 	შობის ბაბუის წერილები
German 	Die Briefe vom Weihnachtsmann
Greek 	Γράμματα από τον Αϊ-Βασίλη / Ο πατέρας Χριστουγεννιάτικα γράμματα
Gujarati 	પિતા ક્રિસમસ લેટર્સ
Haitian Creole 	Papa Nowèl lèt yo
Hausa 	Uba Kirsimeti Haruffa
Hebrew 	האותיות חג המולד אבא
Hindi 	पिता क्रिसमस पत्र
Hungarian 	Apa Karבcsonyi Levelek
Icelandic 	Faðir jólin bréfum
Indonesian 	Surat Natal Bapa
Irish Gaelic 	An tAthair litreacha na Nollag
Italian 	Le Lettere di Babbo Natale
Japanese 	父のクリスマスレター
Javanese 	Sang Rama Surat Natal
Kannada 	ತಂದೆಯ ಕ್ರಿಸ್ಮಸ್ ಲೆಟರ್ಸ್
Kazakh Cyrillic 	Әкесі Рождество хаттары ?
Korean 	아버지 크리스마스 편지 ?
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Аяз ата тамгалар
Laotian 	ພຣະບິດາອັກສອນວັນຄຣິດສະມາດ
Latvian 	Tēvs Ziemassvētku burtus
Lithuanian 	Kalėdų Senelio laiškai
Luxembourgish 	De Papp Chrëschtdag Bréiwer
Macedonian Cyrillic	ׂТаткото Божиќни писма
Malagasy 	Ny Ray Krismasy Taratasy
Malaysian 	Bapa Surat Krismas
Maltese 	L-Ittri tal-Milied tal-Missier
Marathi 	पिता ख्रिसमस अक्षरे
Nepalese 	पिता क्रिसमस पत्र
Norwegian 	Brev fra julenissen
Pashto 	سانګ رام سورت نالټ
Persian 	نامه های کریسمس پدر
Polish 	Listy Świętego Mikołaja
Portuguese 	Cartas do Pai Natal
Punjabi 	ਪਿਤਾ ਜੀ ਦੇ ਕ੍ਰਿਸਮਸ ਵਾਲੇ ਅੱਖਰ
Romanian 	Scrisori de CrÄ ciun tatăl
Russian 	ֿПисьма Рождественского Деда
Samoan 	O le Tusi o le Kerisimasi Tama
Scottish Gaelic 	An t-Athair Nollaig Litrichean
Serbian 	Отац Божићна писма (Cyrillic) Otac Božićna pisma (Latin)
Sindhi 	پيء جو ڪرسمس خط
Slovak 	Otec vianočné listy
Slovenian 	Oče Božična pisma
Somalian 	Masiixiga Aabbaha Waraaqaha
Spanish 	Las cartas de Papá Noel
Sudanese 	Rama Natal Sastra
Swahili 	Barua za Krismasi za Baba
Swedish 	Breven från Jultomten
Tajik Cyrillic 	ֿПадар Мактуб Мавлуди
Tamil 	பிதா கிறிஸ்துமஸ் கடிதங்கள்
Telugu 	ది ఫాదర్ క్రిస్మస్ లెటర్స్
Thai 	จดหมายวันคริสต์มาสพ่อ
Turkish 	Baba Noel Mektupları
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Різдвяні листи батька
Urdu 	والد کرسمس خطوط
Uzbek 	Ота Рождество мактуби (Cyrillic) Ota Rojdestvo maktubi (Latin)
Vietnamese 	Sách Giáng sinh của Cha
Welsh 	Mae'r Llythyrau Nadolig Dad
Yiddish 	דער פֿאָטער ניטל אותיות
de:Die Briefe vom Weihnachtsmann
pl:Listy Świętego Mikołaja
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