A letter from JRR Tolkein

The Oxford Don and fantasy writer J.R.R. Tolkien was born a hundred and twenty-seven years ago today.

Hat tip to Jonny Geller (@JonnyGeller on twitter) who celebrated his birthday by publishing on social media the brilliantly-crafted reply which Tolkien wrote during the Nazi era when his German publishers asked about his racial origins, apparently to establish whether he was Jewish.

(He responded that "I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people.")



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