Cypher Language: The North Polar Bear invents one based on goblins' cave drawings and sends his own letters to the children in it.He also mentions his 'Green Brother', whom we learn little about, but some people have speculated is the symbol of the summer solstice. Crossover Cosmology: Father Christmas refers to his own father, Grandfather Yule, who represents the pre-Christian pagan winter solstice festival.Particularly noteworthy is Father Christmas's secretary Ilbereth, who writes in a distinctive Elvish script. Christmas Elves: Kind of, but being as Tolkien was involved, the elves in this universe have a lot in common with their counterparts in his Legendarium.Cerebus Syndrome: Starting on 1939, the tone becomes sadder as Father Christmas talks about the terrible war.Played straight from the goblins' perspective, as NPB is described as being invulnerable to their arrows and easily thrashes hordes of them with little effort. Bears Are Bad News: Inverted, although the NPB does manage to upset quite a lot of things by accident.

Badass Santa: Father Christmas leads his elves into battle against the goblins in the later letters (he writes that the goblins' strength is proportional to the rise of strife due to World War II.).

Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: When the North Polar Bear breaks its leg, Father Christmas stops momentarily complaining about his antics, telling the bear is also a big help and hopes he heals soon.

This is probably Tolkien's own views shining through famously he hated cars and shortly after World War II sold off the family car and carried on most of his life by bicycle.

Author Tract: In one letter, Father Christmas spends some time talking about how much he dislikes cars.

Father Christmas' handwriting is particularly trembly, although his hand usually steadies up when he has to draw anything his secretary's notes in the margins are written in a neat, flowing hand and in a different color of ink the North Polar Bear writes with vaguely runic block letters, and draws in a similarly bold and angular style.

Art Shift/ Unconventional Formatting: Used by Tolkien to make it seem as though more than one person contributed to the letters.

An expanded version with more material, re-titled Letters from Father Christmas, was released in 2004. With the public appetite for more Tolkien writings after his death in 1973, the Letters were collected and published in 1976. The letters were illustrated by Tolkien himself in his idiosyncratic style. Tolkien wrote a series of letters to his children purportedly from Father Christmas, in which he told them about his life at the North Pole and his helpers and acquaintances - most prominently the good-hearted but accident-prone North Polar Bear.

The father christmas letters tolkien