Which writer was C.S. Lewis’s fellow Inkling and author of The Lord of the Rings?

J.R.R. Tolkien was C.S. Lewis’s fellow Inkling and author of The Lord of the Rings.

Lewis and Tolkien met at Oxford and became close friends, sharing an interest in language, myth, medieval literature, and Christianity. Tolkien was a member of the Inklings, the informal literary discussion group that met mainly at Oxford’s Eagle and Child pub and in Lewis’s rooms at Magdalen College. Their conversations helped both writers test ideas and hear unfinished work aloud.

Tolkien read portions of The Lord of the Rings to members of the group, while Lewis supported Tolkien’s writing and praised his imagination. Tolkien’s best-known fantasy sequence was published in three volumes from 1954 to 1955. Although both writers created influential mythic worlds, Middle-earth belongs to Tolkien, while Narnia belongs to Lewis.