What was the name of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fellowship of literary friends at Oxford?

J.R.R. Tolkien’s fellowship of literary friends at Oxford was called the Inklings.

The Inklings were an informal literary discussion group associated with Oxford University during the 1930s and 1940s. Members and regular attendees included Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, and Charles Williams. The group met in rooms at Magdalen College and at the Eagle and Child pub, which members nicknamed the Bird and Baby.

Participants read drafts aloud, discussed literature, and offered criticism. Tolkien read portions of The Lord of the Rings to the group while the work was in progress, and Lewis was among the listeners who encouraged him. The Inklings were not a formal society with a fixed membership or written constitution. Their importance came from sustained friendship and creative exchange. The name is a wordplay suggesting both a small amount of literary knowledge and the beginnings of an idea, rather than a reference to a publishing organization.