J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were members of the Oxford literary discussion group known as the Inklings.
The Inklings met in Oxford during the 1930s and 1940s, often in Lewis’s rooms at Magdalen College and later at the Eagle and Child pub. The group included writers and scholars who read aloud from works in progress and discussed literature, religion, and imaginative writing.
Tolkien read portions of The Lord of the Rings to the group while the work was being developed. Lewis’s encouragement was important to Tolkien, and Tolkien in turn influenced Lewis’s thinking and writing. Other members included Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, and Warren Lewis.
The Inklings were not a formal society with membership rules or a published programme. The name is usually understood as a playful term for people interested in ideas and writing. The group is sometimes incorrectly described as a fantasy-writing club; its meetings covered a broader range of literary and theological subjects.