TCG Letter #511

Tolkien's baptism date was the 31st January, as noted by Carpenter and Hammond & Scull (see references below), not the 8th January.

Wayne Hammond and Christina note in their Chronology (see reference below) that Tolkien wrote to Nancy Smith saying he wrote a story of a "great green dragon" when he was approximately 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)) 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 wrote some verses about the dragon, and he says to W.H. Auden he had written a "story".

Part of this letter is included at the end of Carpenter #165: Letter from J.R.R. Tolkien to Houghton Mifflin Co. • 30 June 1955 (#478) from an article Tolkien on Tolkien in The Diplomat magazine in 1966.