Letter 289

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Letter 289
Recipient	Michael George Tolkien
Date	29 July 1966
Subject(s)	Mirkwood

Letter 289 is a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien and published in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Summary

Tolkien explains the origin of the word Mirkwood, and that he did not invent it himself, but took it from an Myrkviðr, a large forest that was traditionally held as the border between the Goths and the Huns.

Only the beginning and ending of this letter was published in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. The middle paragraph, along with the other two paragraphs, appeared in The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion (see Michael George Tolkien 29 July 1966).