Treasures from the North Pole
I found some treasures from the North today that I’d like to share, one literary and the other cultural. The first, found this afternoon on YouTube, is a reading — with what appear to be the author’s illustrations — of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Father Christmas and the Goblins,” a fantasy tale of the North Pole, read by Adam F. McCune. I always find myself almost as smitten with Tolkien’s illustrations as with his writings.
Letters from Father Christmas
There are several editions available of the book this excerpt is from. It’s Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien. It can be found in ebook, audiobook, hardcover and paperback. I wasn’t aware until today that this story collection existed, so it really is a treasure, for me.
If you want to get the most out of the illustrations, I would imagine the hardcover or paperback are your best bet. I love all the covers. The one shown here is for the paperback edition. I can’t imagine reading this on my Kindle Paperwhite, because I would want to see all those wonderful illustrations in color. It might show up well as an ebook if read on a tablet, but no promises, as I have not seen it in that format. Of course the choice is yours.
Tour a Medieval German Christmas Market
The second tidbit is tucked inside a knitting video, which would usually be posted on my knitting blog, Swatches Yarns and Frogs. This episode from one of my favorite knitting channels, Fruity Knitting, primarily focuses on Canadian rug hooking, but has a segment touring a Medieval-themed German Christmas market in the city of Esslingen in southern Germany. You can of course watch the entire video, if you’re interested in knitting or want to learn about the rug hooking heritage of Labrador. If you only want to see the Christmas market, start at 18:43. The program notes can be found on the Fruity Knitting blog.
Today, by my count, is the Third Day of Christmas, when according to the old carol, “my true love sent to me three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree.”