Letter 142a

The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Letter 142a
Recipient	Katharine Farrer
Date	10 December 1953
Subject(s)	The BBC recording of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, preparations for publishing The Lord of the Rings

Letter 142a is a letter written by J.R.R. Tolkien and published in The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien: Revised and Expanded edition.

Summary

In this letter to Katharine Farrer Tolkien expresses his gratitude for her kindness during a difficult time. He shares his acute distress over the recent broadcast of his translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, describing it as awful and admitting that he was quite upset afterwards. Tolkien notes that his illness prevented him from attending the rehearsal of Part I, although he believes he may have had some influence on Parts II and III.

He also mentions the challenge of continuing with the "Great Work" due to its tedious demands. Additionally, Tolkien informs Farrer that he has a set of galleys for Volume II (Books III and IV) of The Lord of the Rings up to Frodo's capture, and reassures her that any corrections she makes on the uncorrected page-proof of Volume I will be appreciated, though he believes he has already noted the most obvious errors.