TCG Letter #84

Tolkien apologizes for the delay in replying to Selby's November letter ^{Letter from Geoffrey E. Selby to J.R.R. Tolkien • 28 November 1937 (#2038)[1]} due to his poor health. He remarks that he prefers his own mythology which The Hobbit only briefly touches upon, mixed with Eddaic-named dwarves and Anglo-Saxon runes. Tolkien says that his children do not approve of the stories that were for them originally being made public and profited from. His employers were not happy at first with the book being published, but felt better as good reviews came in. Tolkien describes his own illustrations as bad. Tolkien closes with a note about Smaug who's name is derived from the Icelandic smjúga.