J.R.R. Tolkien was C.S. Lewis’s close friend and fellow Oxford literary discussion partner.
Lewis and Tolkien met at Oxford in 1926 and became important members of the Inklings, an informal literary group that met largely at Oxford’s Eagle and Child pub and in college rooms. They read drafts aloud, debated literature, and encouraged one another’s writing.
Tolkien, a philologist and medievalist, was developing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Lewis was working across literary criticism, Christian apologetics, fantasy, and science fiction. Their friendship influenced both men, although they did not agree on every religious or literary question.
Charles Williams and Owen Barfield were also associated with the Inklings, which is why they are plausible alternatives. Tolkien, however, is the best-known fellow Oxford writer linked to Lewis’s personal and literary circle.