The literary group C.S. Lewis belonged to with J.R.R. Tolkien was called the Inklings. It was an informal discussion and reading group associated with the University of Oxford.
The Inklings met mainly in Oxford during the 1930s and 1940s. Members read aloud from works in progress and discussed literature, mythology, religion, and language. Lewis and Tolkien were among its best-known participants, but the group also included writers such as Charles Williams and Owen Barfield.
The Inklings was not a formally organized society with a fixed membership list or published manifesto. Its importance came from the way members tested ideas and received criticism from trusted friends. Tolkien read parts of The Lord of the Rings to the group, while Lewis shared drafts and ideas connected with his fiction and Christian writing. The name was an informal label that predated the group’s most famous literary achievements.