The Inklings were the group of writers who met regularly with C.S. Lewis at Oxford’s Eagle and Child pub.
The Inklings were an informal literary discussion group associated with Oxford University. Lewis was one of its central members, and J.R.R. Tolkien was another. Members read portions of works in progress aloud, discussed literature, and offered criticism in a relaxed setting.
The group’s name was not the title of an official society with a fixed membership list. Its meetings developed from Lewis’s wider circle of friends and colleagues, and attendance varied. Other associated writers included Charles Williams and Owen Barfield. The Eagle and Child, often nicknamed the Bird and Baby, became strongly linked with the group’s public image.
The Inklings did not jointly author The Chronicles of Narnia or The Lord of the Rings. Their importance lies in mutual encouragement and criticism, especially during the development of major twentieth-century fantasy and Christian literature.