Letter 315

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
← Letter 315 →
Recipient	Michael Tolkien
Date	1 January 1970
Subject(s)	Slow work on The Silmarillion

Letter 315 is a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien and published in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Summary

Tolkien growled that he was not getting on fast with The Silmarillion. His wife, though gallant, was losing the fight against age, disability, and pain. Tolkien felt his years and had many interruptions of business. He had chiefly been trying to co-ordinate the nomenclature of the parts of The Silmarillion with The Lord of the Rings. Stories still sprouted from names but it was a very difficult and complex task. He wanted to put some of it into readable form and sketch the rest for others. He also wanted the time to record memories of his childhood and kin.