19. He was a member of The Inklings with C.S. Lewis and others
Tolkien was a professor at Oxford at a very germane period for famous scholars with a penchant for writing fiction. Amongst his colleagues, for example, was C.S. Lewis, an expert on medieval literature who also found time to write The Chronicles of Narnia. Tolkien and Lewis were the most eminent members of a group called The Inklings, who met twice a week through the 1930s and ‘40s to discuss their fiction and engage in intellectual conversation. Tolkien explained the name ‘Inklings’ as a pun meaning ‘people with vague or half-formed intimations and ideas’ and ‘those who dabble in ink’.
Although there were no limitations on what was discussed, The Inklings had a very set routine. On Tuesday mornings they would meet at The Eagle and Child pub to drink and chat about everything under the sun, and on Thursday evenings they would gather at Lewis’s rooms at Magdalen College to read aloud their literary endeavors for comment and critique. Their routine only changed when The Eagle and Child, affectionately known as ‘The Bird and Baby’, became the haunt of beer-loving American soldiers during World War 2, and they were forced to patronize The Lamb and Flag across the road.
