Which author and scholar was C.S. Lewis's close friend in the Inklings?

J.R.R. Tolkien was C.S. Lewis’s close friend in the Inklings.

The two writers met at Oxford in 1926 and developed a lasting friendship. Tolkien, a philologist and medievalist, was already teaching at Oxford when Lewis arrived as a young academic. Their conversations about mythology, language, Christianity, and imaginative literature influenced both men.

The Inklings was an informal Oxford literary discussion group that included Lewis, Tolkien, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, and others. Members read drafts aloud and discussed works in progress. The group met in rooms at Magdalen College and at the Eagle and Child pub, known to members as the Bird and Baby.

Lewis encouraged Tolkien during the long development of The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien, in turn, played a role in Lewis’s return to Christianity, although Lewis’s intellectual and religious development involved many influences. Their friendship later became strained, particularly over Lewis’s relationship with Joy Davidman and other personal matters.