In 1920, a small boy asked his father a simple question: “What is Father Christmas like and where does he live?”
In answer, the father began the tradition of writing a newsy letter from Father Christmas to his children, detailing the preparations for the holiday, the past year’s events, and other fun tidbits from the North Pole.
The letters he wrote span from 1920 to 1943 and give insight into family life, political and economic affairs in England, and the imagination of J.R.R. Tolkien, for he is the father who penned these extraordinary letters.
In the centenary edition of Tolkien’s Letters from Father Christmas, edited by Baillie Tolkien, full color photographs of the envelopes and letters are included, showing off Tolkien’s imitation of Father Christmas’s very shaky handwriting and his fascinating pen and ink drawings of life in the North Pole.
Though our family has never included legends or traditions of Santa Claus in our own Christmas celebrations, my children have loved reading Tolkien’s Letters from Father Christmas. I have loved it too, as I have looked back on my own father’s “Santa letters.” Perhaps, with Father Christmas’s involvement, a father feels less sentimental and more able to express the emotion of his deepest feelings as he pens loving words to his children.
Beginning when his son John was three years old, Tolkien filled his Father Christmas letters with fanciful stories of old Father Christmas, his assistant, the North Polar Bear, an elf named Ilbereth, the gardener who happens to be a Snowman, and various other bears, elves, dwarves, and goblins.
The antics and shenanigans of the Polar Bear are a favorite with my children. We listened to an audio version of the book, wonderfully narrated by Derek Jacobi, and roared with laughter when Polar Bear mischievously turned on the tap for all of the Northern Lights for two years in one go. Father Christmas writes to the young Tolkiens: “I should hardly feel it was Christmas if he didn’t do something ridiculous.”
The side notes and post scripts from the Polar Bear, presented in deep, bold capital letters (“I have a fat paw”) keep us giggling. My son who struggles with spelling appreciates Polar Bear’s poor, phonetic spellings.
The stories Father Christmas writes about goblin wars, dwarves, and elves are reminiscent of his more well-known works, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. While they include interesting tidbits about Polar Bear’s language, Arktik, and the Goblin Alphabet, the letters do not get bogged down in too much fantasy or world building.
The later letters, addressed mostly to Tolkien’s daughter Priscilla, cover the early years of World War II. They take on more of a somber tone: “Just a short letter to wish you a very happy Christmas… We are having a rather difficult time this year. This horrible war is reducing all our stocks, and in so many countries children are living far from their homes. Polar Bear has had a very busy time trying to get our address-lists corrected. I am glad you are still at home…” These letters have provided ample opportunity for our family to discuss our own current events and how war, immigration, and poverty affect families during the holiday season.
Tolkien’s Letters from Father Christmas do not mention Jesus or Christianity in much the same way that Lewis’s Father Christmas did not speak directly of these things when he broke into the enchanted world of Narnia that had been cursed to have eternal winter but never Christmas. However, the joy presented in both stories points to the power and motivation contained in the incarnation and birth of Jesus Christ, and the fictional Father Christmas’s gifts are a shadow and an allegory for the true gifts brought by the Christchild that first Christmas night. The overwhelming joy is present in both the real Story of Christmas as well as Tolkien’s fantasy.
Letters from Father Christmas brings the fun, imaginative side of the holiday to our Advent reflections, and I hope your family will love it as much as mine does. Here are some activities to do together as you read or listen to Letters from Father Christmas ….
*Draw or sketch what you think Father Christmas may look like.
*Have the children write to Father Christmas and have fun responding. This may also give your family a good opportunity to discuss the difference between the fun imaginary elements of Christmas (such as Father Christmas) and the true, powerful elements (such as the incarnation of Christ and the Gospel).
*Follow Father’s Christmas’s flight path www.noradsanta.org
*Ask Grandparents or Great-Grandparents about their Christmas celebrations as children. What did they eat? How did they exchange gifts? How have your traditions changed?
*Investigate some facts about Christmas during WII. https://www.nationalww2museum.org/sites/default/files/2017-07/christmas-on-the-home-front.pdf
*Investigate the history of the legends of Father Christmas. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/christmas/the-history-of-father-christmas/
*Purchase some Christmas “crackers,” similar to the ones Tolkien mentions in his letters. They are brightly wrapped tubes that make a popping sound when pulled. They usually contain a paper crown, a riddle, and a candy or toy.
*Plan to secretly deliver a meal or gifts to another family in need.
*Bake or make some traditional Christmas recipes to share with friends or family. Our family enjoyed making Wassail, a hot Christmasy drink. https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/hot-wassail/
At night, she writes articles, Bible study curriculum for children, and books, including her latest novel The Winning of Lady Wisdom. You can follow her adventures at SarahDixonYoung.com
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