Who was C.S. Lewis’s close friend and fellow Inkling J.R.R. Tolkien?

J.R.R. Tolkien was C.S. Lewis’s close friend and fellow Inkling.

Lewis and Tolkien were members of the Inklings, an informal Oxford literary discussion group that met mainly at The Eagle and Child pub and in Lewis’s rooms at Magdalen College. Their friendship developed during the 1920s and became one of the best-known literary relationships of the twentieth century.

Both writers were interested in mythology, medieval literature, language, and Christianity. Lewis encouraged Tolkien while Tolkien was developing The Lord of the Rings, and Tolkien’s conversations helped influence Lewis’s intellectual and imaginative life. Their friendship was not free of tensions, especially over religious and personal matters, but it remained historically significant.

The Inklings included other writers, including Charles Williams and Owen Barfield. Tolkien should not be confused with Lewis’s brother Warren, who was also part of Lewis’s close circle but was not the famous fantasy novelist.