The Father Christmas letters, sent by the Hobbit author to his children over the course of 23 years, included tall tales and beautiful illustrations Frank Herrmann/The Tolkien Estate Ltd 1976Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, Legolas and Father Christmas. The odd one out may seem obvious but it has emerged that JRR Tolkien set more of his literary works in the North Pole than in Middle Earth. The author of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit spent more than 20 years writing elaborate letters to his children from Father Christmas, containing complex tales about his adventures with a polar bear helper and his brushes with goblins. Adorned with intricate illustrations painted and drawn by Tolkien, the letters used to arrive on the hearth with a homemade stamp or would be delivered by the postman, who agreed to pop it through the letterbox with the rest of the mail. Tolkien wrote the first of these letters…

Source: The Times December 20, 2017 12:22 UTC