C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien belonged to the literary group known as the Inklings.
The Inklings were an informal Oxford writers’ group that met mainly in Lewis’s rooms at Magdalen College and at the Eagle and Child pub. Members read aloud from works in progress and discussed literature, mythology, and Christian ideas.
The group was active chiefly during the 1930s and 1940s. Tolkien read portions of The Lord of the Rings, while Lewis shared drafts and ideas connected with his own fiction and apologetic writing. Charles Williams and Owen Barfield were also important members.
The Inklings were not a formal society with a fixed membership list or published manifesto. The name referred to their shared interest in writing and to the sense that members had an “inkling” of ideas still being developed.