I have in the past heard that J.R.R. Tolkien was part of a small group of writers that called themselves "The Inklings" around about the thirties, and that it contained a number of writers such as C.S. Lewis. Has anyone any infomation on the group and it's other members? It seems likely that they would of heard a lot about Tolkien's works as he created them so could of *perhaps* slightly influenced them. Just curious
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A lord of wisdom throned he sat, swift in anger, quick to laugh; an old man in a battered hat who leaned upon a thorny staff.
He stood upon the bridge alone and Fire and Shadow both defied; his staff was broken on the stone, in Khazad-dûm his wisdom died.
Mithrandir, Here my friend are three different web articles about the Inklings. There is also a book "The Inklings:C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and their Friends" by Humphrey Carpenter which has gotten positive feedback There are hundreds ... maybe thousands of different sites ... dealing with the Inklings. If you wish to dig further tag on to the three different web addresses I have given. They all three list resources, extended readings, and references. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. Bear
ARTICLE I ~Tolkien - Online The Inklings ~ One of the most widely-known and important aspects of JRR Tolkien's life was his "extra-curricular" involvement with a group of like-minded scholars and writers who called themselves The Inklings. The Inklings were a literary discussion group whose membership included some of the most influential intellectuals and authors of the day. The Inklings themselves may have actually evolved from an original meeting-group that Tolkien himself had organized called the "Coalbiters". The Coalbiters had been formed for a specific purpose, the reading of the Old Icelandic myth cycle leading up to the main cycle of northern myths known as The Elder Edda. The club faded away fairly quickly, having run out of mythological material to read. But it is important because it laid the foundation for what was to become a far more wide-ranging and influential group. The Inklings. One of the latecomers to the Coalbiters was a young Fellow of English Language and Literature at Magdalen College by the name of C.S. Lewis. Lewis and Tolkien had met several times before and found they had many ideas and interests in common. Lewis's first impression of Tolkien was favorable, but not overwhelmingly so. Lewis wrote in his diary after one of his initial contacts with Tolkien - "No harm in him: only needs a smack or so." (quoted by Carpenter, The Inklings, pg 23). This auspicious debut was the beginning of a long and very significant friendship that would define the rest of their lives and works. Daniel Grotta writes in his Biography of J.R.R. Tolkien: "If Tolkien ever encountered a kindred spirit at Oxford, it was Lewis." (pg. 80). Informal clubs or groups were not at all unusual at Oxford, and one began, under the organization of undergraduate Edward Tangye Lean, circa 1933. Tangye-Lean called the group 'The Inklings', and Tolkien and Lewis were both a part of it, but the group was short-lived. Tolkien recalled: "Its name was then transferred (by C.S.L.) to the undetermined and unelected circle of friends who gathered about C.S.L., and met in his rooms in Magdalen" (Letters of JRR Tolkien no. 298). The Inklings began meeting some time in the mid 1930's (1933 or '34), and existed in some form or another until 1962. Like most other Oxford clubs of the time, it was all-male. The Inklings were a very informal group, not having elected officers or formal inductions. An invitation from a group member was necessary to attend, and then only the approval of the other members could initiate membership. Most meetings, at least in the beginning, took place on Thursday evenings in C.S. Lewis's rooms at Magdalen College. The also often met on Tuesday nights at another popular haunt - the Eagle and Child pub (affectionately known as the "Bird and Baby"), where they often gathered in a private back room for conversation and drinks. The meetings themselves were not formal by any account. They were something of an open forum on a wide range of issues. Bits of each scholar's unpublished fictions, works-in-progress, ideas, poetry, and criticism were generally circulated, often along with drinks and tobacco. Some of what were to become the most important texts of the 20th century were first read amongst friends at an Inklings meeting. Tolkien read early drafts of The Lord of the Rings and discussed its problems and development. Lewis read Out of the Silent Planet, The Problem of Pain, and likely many of his other important works at various meetings.
Other members of the Inklings were some of the most notable and important scholars of the day ~ * Charles Williams, who joined the Inklings a couple of years after its foundation, is perhaps the best known Inkling outside of Tolkien and Lewis. Williams read parts of many of his important unpublished writings to the Inklings. * Nevill Coghill was another of the more well-regarded scholars of the period. He specialized in Geoffrey Chaucer and later succeeded Tolkien as Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford. * Owen Barfield was another of the founding members of The Inklings. He was a close friend of C.S. Lewis and a very notable philosopher and writer in his own right. * Hugo Dyson was another holdover from Tolkien's old Coalbiter's club. * Two other very important additions to the club near the end of WWII were Father Gervase Matthew - who was a childhood friend of Tolkien's and later helped to persuade Tolkien to push on in his attempts to publish The Lord of the Rings - and JRR Tolkien's son Christopher Tolkien, who had become a serious scholar in his own right and later edited and prepared many of his father's manuscripts for publication after his death. (Tolkien - Online. com http://www.tolkien-online.com/inklings.html)
ARTICLE II ~Wikipedia The Inklings The Inklings was an informal literary discussion group associated with the University of Oxford, England, for nearly two decades between the early 1930s and late 1949. The Inklings were literary enthusiasts who praised the value of narrative in fiction, and encouraged the writing of fantasy. Although Christian values were notably present in several members' work, there were also irreligious members of the discussion group. Members and meetings The more regular members of the Inklings, many of them academics at the University, included J. R. R. "Tollers" Tolkien, C. S. "Jack" Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams, Christopher Tolkien (J. R. R. Tolkien's son), Warren "Warnie" Lewis (C. S. Lewis's elder brother), Roger Lancelyn Green, Adam Fox, Hugo Dyson, R. A. "Humphrey" Havard, J. A. W. Bennett, Lord David Cecil, and Nevill Coghill. Other less frequent attenders at their meetings included Percy Bates, Charles Leslie Wrenn, Colin Hardie, James Dundas-Grant, Jon Fromke, John Wain, R. B. McCallum, Gervase Mathew, and C. E. Stevens. Guests included author E. R. Eddison and South African poet Roy Campbell. "Properly speaking," wrote Warren Lewis, "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." As was typical for university literary groups in their time and place, the Inklings were all male. (Dorothy L. Sayers, sometimes claimed as an Inkling, was a friend of Lewis and Williams, but never attended Inklings meetings.) Readings and discussions of the members' unfinished works were the principal purposes of meetings. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Lewis's Out of the Silent Planet, and Williams's All Hallows' Eve were among the novels first read to the Inklings. Tolkien's fictional Notion Club (see Sauron Defeated) was based on the Inklings. Meetings were not all serious ... the Inklings amused themselves by having competitions to see who could read the famously bad prose of Amanda McKittrick Ros for the longest without laughing. The name was associated originally with a society of Oxford University's University College, initiated by the then undergraduate Edward Tangye Lean circa 1931, for the purpose of reading aloud unfinished compositions. The society consisted of students and dons, among them Tolkien and Lewis. When Lean left Oxford during 1933, the society ended, and its name was transferred by Tolkien and Lewis to their group at Magdalen College. On the association between the two 'Inklings' societies, Tolkien later said "although our habit was to read aloud compositions of various kinds (and lengths!), this association and its habit would in fact have come into being at that time, whether the original short-lived club had ever existed or not." Until late 1949, Inklings readings and discussions usually occurred during Thursday evenings in C. S. Lewis's college rooms at Magdalen College. The Inklings and friends were also known to gather informally on Tuesdays at midday at a local public house, The Eagle and Child, familiarly and alliteratively known in the Oxford community as The Bird and Baby, or simply The Bird. Later pub meetings were at The Lamb and Flag across the street, and in earlier years the Inklings also met irregularly in yet other pubs, but The Eagle and Child is the best known. Legacy The Marion E. Wade Center, located at Wheaton College, Illinois is devoted to the work of seven British authors including four Inklings and Dorothy L. Sayers. Overall, the Wade Center has more than 11,000 volumes including first editions and critical works. Other holdings on the seven foremost authors (G. K. Chesterton, George MacDonald, Dorothy L. Sayers, and Inklings Owen Barfield, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams) include letters, manuscripts, audio and video tapes, artwork, dissertations, periodicals, photographs, and related materials. The Mythopoeic Society is a literary organization devoted to the study of mythopoeic literature, particularly the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and Charles Williams, founded in 1967 and incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1971. Named after the Inklings is The Inklings Society based in Aachen, and their yearbook, Inklings Jahrbuch fur Literatur und Asthetik, published from 1983 by Brendow, Moers. The yearbook contains scholarly articles and reviews, dealing with Inklings members in particular, but also with fantasy literature and mythopoeia in general. The members of the Inklings are the three Caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica in James A. Owen's novel, Here, There Be Dragons. The undergraduate literary and art magazine at Miami University in Oxford, OH, is named Inklings. They also meet on Thursday nights. (Wikipedia, ~ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inklings)
ARTICLE III ~ Tolkien Gateway The Inklings The Inklings was a literary discussion group associated with the University of Oxford, England. Its members, mostly academics at the university, included J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams, Adam Fox, Hugo Dyson, Robert Havard, Nevill Coghill, Charles Leslie Wrenn, Roger Lancelyn Green, James Dundas-Grant, John Wain, R.B. McCallum, Gervase Mathew, C.E. Stevens, J.A.W. Bennett, Lord David Cecil, Colin Hardie, Christopher Tolkien (J.R.R. Tolkien's son), and Warren "Warnie" Lewis (C.S. Lewis's elder brother). It met between the 1930s and the 1950s. The Inklings were literary enthusiasts who praised the value of narrative in fiction, and encouraged the writing of fantasy. Christian values are also notably reflected in their work, though there were atheists and Anthroposophists among the members of the discussion group. Contrary to what has been said about the Inklings, it was not an exclusively Christian club. As was typical for university literary groups in their time and place, the Inklings were all male. (Dorothy L. Sayers, sometimes claimed as an Inkling, was a friend of Lewis and Williams, but never attended Inklings meetings.) Readings and discussions of the members' unfinished works were the principal purposes of meetings. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Lewis's Out of the Silent Planet, and Williams's All Hallows Eve were among the novels first read to the Inklings. Inklings readings and discussions were usually held on Thursday evenings in C. S. Lewis's college rooms at Magdalen College. The Inklings were also known to gather at a local pub, The Eagle and Child, known to them as The Bird and Baby, or simply The Bird. But, contrary to common belief, they did not read their manuscripts in the pub. Later pub meetings were held at The Lamb and Flag across the street, and in earlier years the Inklings also met irregularly in yet other pubs, but The Eagle and Child has kept the cachet. The name was originally associated with a club at University College, founded by the then undergraduate Edward Tangye Lean in ca. 1931, for the purpose of reading aloud unfinished compositions. The club consisted of students and dons, among them Tolkien and Lewis. When Lean left Oxford in 1933, the club died, and its name was transferred by Tolkien and Lewis to their group at Magdalen. On the connection between the two 'Inklings' societies, Tolkien later said 'although our habit was to read aloud compositions of various kinds (and lengths!), this association and its habit would in fact have come into being at that time, whether the original short-lived club had ever existed or not.' Named after the Inklings is the Inklings society based in Aachen, and their yearbook, Inklings Jahrbuch für Literatur und Asthetik, published from 1983 by Brendow, Moers. The yearbook contains scholarly articles and reviews, dealing with Inklings members in particular, but also with fantasy literature and mythopoeia in general. Also named after the Inklings is the Inklings club at Saint Ignatius Preparatory School in Cleveland, Ohio. The club has been around for several years, reaching back into the late 1990s. Originally with theology teacher Mr. Thomas Healey as the proctor, the club discussed the theological aspects of the works of both Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Over the years the club evolved and passed into the hands of Saint Ignatius theology teacher Mr. James Hogan (author of the book Crossways). The club then broadened its scope to include anything as long as it was theology related. The club still exists, though unknown by most of the Saint Ignatius community. A third group named for and based upon the original Inklings finds its roots in the South-Eastern United States. This group, also known as the Inklings Fellowship, discusses literature, theology, the Inklings' lives and works, the films based on their works, compose music based on their works, as well as critique each others' poetry and fiction. The founders of this group are commonly known by the nick-names Jack, Tollers, and Hugo. The Smudglings, another literary club, was inspired by the great minds of Tolkien and Lewis and their Inklings. The name is "Smudgling" because the group consists primarily of unpublished authors. Writing of fantasy is encouraged, Christian values are frequently evident in their works, if only symbolically. The group was founded by C. A. Shepherd. The Wade Center, located at Wheaton College in the U.S. is devoted to the work of the Inklings. Overall, the Wade Center has more than 11,000 volumes including first editions and critical works. Other holdings on the seven foremost authors (Owen Barfield, G.K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Dorothy L. Sayers, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams) include letters, manuscripts, audio and video tapes, artwork, dissertations, periodicals, photographs, and related materials. (Tolkien Gateway ~ http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Inklings)
So much has been written about this literary group and its famous members that it has grown its own myths and falsehoods. Depending on how serious one is about the project I suggest reading the individual biographies of the Inklings members. If you have access to the "J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment" by Michael D.C. Drout (editor) you will find a wealth of articles and resources about "The Inklings." Good hunting! Bear
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Vocatus atque non vocatus, Deus aderit Called or uncalled, God is present
I've been in that pub a few times. It's a strange one, very narrow but goes on a long way. It's actually not hard to imagine it being in the Shire or Bree with its style.
