TCG Letter #256 / Carpenter Letter #110

Tolkien provides information about the origin and authorship of the riddles included in The Hobbit. He clarifies that most of the riddles are his original creations, with the exception of 'Thirty White Horses and 'No-legs. which are traditional texts. He emphasizes that these riddles, while in the style of old literary riddles, have no specific models of inspiration.

The letter is in response to Letter from Philip Unwin to J.R.R. Tolkien • 2 September 1947 (#2599) from Philip Unwin who had asked Tolkien about the origins in response to Houghton Mifflin disputing the cost of using them in an anthology.