TCG Letter #700

Tolkien wrote to a young family friend, containing a long discussion about composing verse. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were about to be published in the US in paperback in response to the pirated ACE paperback.

Wayne Hammond and Christina note in their Chronology (see reference below) that Tolkien wrote to Nancy Smith ^{Letter from J.R.R. Tolkien to Nancy Smith • 25-26 December 1963 (#511)[1]} saying he wrote a story of a "great green dragon" when he was aproximately six years old yet in his letter to W.H. Auden of 7 June 1955^{Carpenter #163: Letter from J.R.R. Tolkien to W. H. Auden • 7 June 1955 (#476)[2]} he says that he is "about seven". he also notes to Nancy Smith, and in a letter to Paula Coston (26 August 1965) that he worte some verses about the dragon, and he says to W.H. Auden he had written a "story".

Tolkien included a five-page appendix but tells Paula she doesn't have to read it.^{See also Carpenter #165: Letter from J.R.R. Tolkien to Houghton Mifflin Co. • 30 June 1955 (#478)[3]}