Tolkien's T.C.B.S discussion

The Inklings were a gathering of friends – all of them British, male, and Christian, most of them teachers at or otherwise affiliated with Oxford University, many of them creative writers and lovers of imaginative literature – who met usually on Thursday evenings in C.S. Lewis’s and J.R.R. Tolkien’s college rooms in Oxford during the 1930s and 1940s for readings and criticism of their own work, and for general conversation. “Properly speaking,” wrote W.H. Lewis, one of their number, the Inklings “was neither a club nor a literary society, though it partook of the nature of both. There were no rules, officers, agendas, or formal elections.” An overlapping group gathered on Tuesday (later Monday) mornings in various Oxford pubs, usually but not always the Eagle and Child, better known as the Bird and Baby, between the 1940s and 1963. These were less formal meetings, and contrary to popular legend the Inklings did not read their manuscripts in the pub.

I know it's a bit sad but, when I was studying Medieval English Literature at Uni, I always got a buzz when finding papers written by Tolkien or Lewis on the texts I was working on.

Ah. If I could go back in time and visit a group of people... this would be it. I would probably scare them, but oh well

It certainly would have been fascinating to have been able to sit in on some of those conversations.

I am sure their interactions with each other influenced their work, however according to Lewis, "no one ever influenced Tolkien. You might as well try to influence a bandersnatch…. He has only two reactions to criticism: either he begins the whole work over again from the beginning or else he takes no notice at all.”

D.J. wrote: "It certainly would have been fascinating to have been able to sit in on some of those conversations.

I am sure their interactions with each other influenced their work, however according to Lewis..."

It certainly would have been facinating to listen in on this group of indaviduals. Tolkien certainly was set on his ideas, thoughts and his creative works.

D.J. wrote: "It certainly would have been fascinating to have been able to sit in on some of those conversations.

I am sure their interactions with each other influenced their work, however according to Lewis..."

That is awesome. I've never heard that before.

There are several books on the Inklings, none of which I've had the pleasure to read, but there's one with several pictures that I'd love to have on my living room table:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Inklings-Ox...

Though other books perhaps might have more information, this one looks appealing especially those who've never been to Oxford.

D.J. wrote: "There are several books on the Inklings, none of which I've had the pleasure to read, but there's one with several pictures that I'd love to have on my living room table:

http://www.amazon.com/The..."

This book looks good! I have this copy :

Lucinda, that looks like a fantastic read as well. I enjoyed your review of it.

I wonder if you (or others) have read anything by Charles Williams. He was not as successful as Lewis and Tolkien over the long term, but he did publish several novels and was fairly well known I take it in his day.

I have only read one of his books:



I did not enjoy it all that much. The writing was decent but the plot and characters left me scratching my head as to what exactly was going on.

D.J. wrote: "Lucinda, that looks like a fantastic read as well. I enjoyed your review of it.

I wonder if you (or others) have read anything by Charles Williams. He was not as successful as Lewis and Tolkien ov..."

Thank you for reading my review of this book. It is a very interesting read, and one that i would highly recomend.

I thought it might be helpful to post a list of the Inklings here. I'm not sure how many of these men were actual writers but I'd be interested to hear if anyone has read anything by any of these men other than Tolkien and Lewis.

J. R. R. "Tollers" Tolkien
C. S. "Jack" Lewis
Owen Barfield
Charles Williams
Christopher Tolkien (Tolkien's son)
Warren "Warnie" Lewis's (Lewis' older brother)
Roger Lancelyn Green
Adam Fox
Hugo Dyson
R. A. "Humphrey" Havard
J. A. W. Bennett
Lord David Cecil
Nevill Coghill.

More infrequent visitors included:
Percy Bates
Charles Leslie Wrenn
Colin Hardie
James Dundas-Grant
John David Arnett
Jon Fromke
John Wain
R. B. McCallum
Gervase Mathew
C. E. Stevens

Guests included:
E. R. Eddison (author of The Worm Ouroboros)
Roy Campbell (South African poet)

Thank you D.J for posting that list. very helpful

I think you can include Dorothy Sayers - though she never attended the Inkling meetings... she was a friend and author as well.