Letter 301

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Letter 301
Recipient	Donald Swann
Date	29 February 1968
Subject(s)	Tolkien in Oxford

Letter 301 is a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien and published in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Summary

Tolkien commented on the BBC documentary Tolkien in Oxford, which would be televised on March 30. He thought the whole documentary was a little bit too much, and the BBC must have confused him with his work. He was made to attend a firework-show, something he had not done since he was a child. Fireworks only appeared in The Fellowship of the Ring (chapter A Long-expected Party) because they represented Gandalf, the keeper of the Ring of Fire.