What was the name of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fictional father Christmas in his illustrated letters?

J.R.R. Tolkien’s fictional Christmas figure in his illustrated letters was Father Christmas.

The Father Christmas Letters are a collection of messages Tolkien wrote and illustrated for his children between 1920 and 1943. He presented them as letters from Father Christmas, creating an imaginative northern world filled with elves, goblins, polar bears and other characters.

The letters were designed as personal family gifts rather than as a planned commercial book. Tolkien varied the handwriting, drawings and narrative voice to make the correspondence appear authentic. The stories include the North Polar Bear, who causes repeated mishaps while trying to help Father Christmas.

This work is separate from Tolkien’s Middle-earth writings, although it shows the same interest in invented languages, maps, mythology and visual detail. The title is sometimes described using Santa Claus because the traditions overlap, but Tolkien’s own character and the collection’s established title use “Father Christmas.” It is best known as a record of Tolkien’s imaginative Christmas storytelling for his family.