At which Oxford pub did C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien meet with the Inklings?

C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien met with the Inklings at Oxford’s Eagle and Child pub.

The Eagle and Child is a historic public house on St Giles’ Street in Oxford. The Inklings, an informal literary discussion group, used a private room there for meetings during the 1930s and 1940s. Lewis, Tolkien, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, and other writers and academics read aloud from works in progress and discussed literature, mythology, and Christian ideas.

The pub was also known by the nickname “the Bird and Baby,” derived from its sign. That nickname can make references to the meeting place seem like a different location, but both names refer to the same Oxford pub.

The Inklings were not a formally constituted society with fixed membership or published rules. Their importance comes from the influence of their conversations and mutual criticism. Tolkien read parts of The Lord of the Rings to the group, while Lewis shared work connected with several of his own books.