At which Oxford pub did J.R.R. Tolkien and the Inklings often meet?

J.R.R. Tolkien and the Inklings often met at Oxford’s Eagle and Child pub. The group’s informal gatherings there helped make the pub an important location in the literary history of twentieth-century Oxford.

The Inklings were an informal discussion and writing group whose members included Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. They read drafts aloud, discussed literature, and exchanged criticism. Their meetings were not a formal society with a fixed membership or constitution.

The Eagle and Child stood on St Giles’ Street in Oxford. The group was associated particularly with a private back room that became known as the Rabbit Room. The pub’s historical nickname, the Bird and Baby, is another name readers may encounter.

The Inklings also met in other places, including college rooms, so the Eagle and Child was not their only meeting place. It is nevertheless the location most strongly associated with their regular pub gatherings and with the development of several important works of fantasy and literature.