Who was C.S. Lewis’s close friend and fellow Oxford fantasy author?

C.S. Lewis’s close friend and fellow Oxford fantasy author was J.R.R. Tolkien. The two writers met at Oxford and became important members of the informal literary group known as the Inklings.

Tolkien was a philologist and medievalist who later wrote The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Lewis admired Tolkien’s knowledge of languages, mythology, and medieval literature, while Tolkien valued Lewis’s energetic conversation and literary judgment. They read drafts and works in progress to one another.

Their friendship influenced both men’s writing, although their fictional worlds are distinct. Lewis created Narnia, while Tolkien created Middle-earth. Tolkien also encouraged Lewis during periods when Lewis was reconsidering his religious beliefs, though the details and direction of their spiritual lives were not identical.

The friendship later became more complicated, especially after Lewis’s fame and religious writing expanded. Even so, Tolkien remained one of the most important personal and intellectual influences in Lewis’s life, and both are central figures in modern fantasy literature.