What was the name of Tolkien’s wartime group of friends and writers at Oxford?

The Inklings was the informal Oxford group of friends and writers associated with J.R.R. Tolkien during the 1930s and 1940s.

The group met mainly at Oxford’s Eagle and Child pub, which members nicknamed the Bird and Baby, and in college rooms. Participants read works in progress aloud, discussed literature, and exchanged criticism. C.S. Lewis was the best-known member besides Tolkien.

The Inklings were not a formal society with a membership register, constitution, or fixed creative program. Their membership varied, and figures such as Charles Williams and Owen Barfield were also important participants. The group’s conversations provided Tolkien and Lewis with an audience for testing ideas and hearing unfinished writing.

The name is sometimes mistaken for the title of a Tolkien literary club or publishing organization. It was instead a playful name for an informal discussion circle whose meetings helped sustain several major twentieth-century writers.