What was the name of C.S. Lewis’s friend and fellow Oxford scholar who wrote The Hobbit?

C.S. Lewis’s friend and fellow Oxford scholar who wrote The Hobbit was J.R.R. Tolkien. Tolkien was an English philologist and author whose Middle-earth writings became central works of modern fantasy.

Lewis and Tolkien met in the 1920s and became members of the Inklings, an informal Oxford literary group that discussed and read works in progress. The group also included Charles Williams and other writers associated with Oxford.

Their friendship included mutual encouragement, literary criticism, and long conversations about mythology, language, and Christianity. Tolkien’s influence helped Lewis recover an appreciation for myth, while Lewis supported Tolkien’s fiction during its development.

The two men were not identical in outlook. Tolkien was a Roman Catholic, whereas Lewis became an Anglican, and their friendship later experienced periods of strain. Still, both remain closely linked in twentieth-century fantasy and Christian literature.