Father Christmas Letters: 1939 - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Estelyn Telcontar · 01-04-2012, 08:31 AM

After the long, elaborate letters and drawings of the previous years, this one is quite brief - a one-page letter and a single panel (full page) picture, with fancy lettering on the borders. Alas, no image was available on the internet.

The drawing depicts Father Christmas coming down a path between several evergreen trees, with Paksu in front and NPB's rear end just visible behind the trees. The letter tells no story, saying that there were no adventures that year. I suspect that the grim happenings of real life were the reason behind Tolkien's lack of imagination and/or time. Father Christmas does mention the war that began in 1939.

The picture is drawn with coloured pencils and is slightly different than previous ones. The trees are stylized - looking a bit like umbrellas, as FC says, claiming that NPB drew them. The sky is lined (like a mesh) in both directions, vertically and horizontally, not a solid blue. The snow and ice are depicted with wavy blue lines on the white background.

The closing greeting, "Give my love to Christopher and Michael and to John when you next write.", seems to say that JRRT's sons are away from home. John at least would have been old enough to take part in the war, but he was in training for priesthood at the time*. The other two were in college and school.

*(Information from Hammond and Scull, Companion and Guide)

01-04-2012, 08:31 AM	#1
Estelyn Telcontar Princess of Skwerlz Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: where the Sea is eastwards (WtR: 6060 miles) Posts: 7,535	Father Christmas Letters: 1939 After the long, elaborate letters and drawings of the previous years, this one is quite brief - a one-page letter and a single panel (full page) picture, with fancy lettering on the borders. Alas, no image was available on the internet. The drawing depicts Father Christmas coming down a path between several evergreen trees, with Paksu in front and NPB's rear end just visible behind the trees. The letter tells no story, saying that there were no adventures that year. I suspect that the grim happenings of real life were the reason behind Tolkien's lack of imagination and/or time. Father Christmas does mention the war that began in 1939. The picture is drawn with coloured pencils and is slightly different than previous ones. The trees are stylized - looking a bit like umbrellas, as FC says, claiming that NPB drew them. The sky is lined (like a mesh) in both directions, vertically and horizontally, not a solid blue. The snow and ice are depicted with wavy blue lines on the white background. The closing greeting, "Give my love to Christopher and Michael and to John when you next write.", seems to say that JRRT's sons are away from home. John at least would have been old enough to take part in the war, but he was in training for priesthood at the time. The other two were in college and school. (Information from Hammond and Scull, Companion and Guide) __________________ 'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The whole history of Middle-earth...'