Colin Duriez - The Oxford Inklings: Lewis, Tolkien and their circle

Text copyright 2015 Colin Duriez

This edition copyright 2015 Lion Hudson

The right of Colin Duriez to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published by Lion Books
an imprint of Lion Hudson plc
Wilkinson House, Jordan Hill Road,
Oxford OX2 8DR, England
www.lionhudson.com/lion

ISBN 978 0 7459 5634 3
e-ISBN 978 0 7459 5792 0

First edition 2015

Acknowledgments

Evert effort has been made to trace the original copyright holders where required. In some cases this has proved impossible. We shall be happy to correct any such omissions in future editions. For full acknowledgments please see p. 288.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Cover images Max Dannenbaum/Getty; Jill Ferry/Corbis

TO LEICESTER WRITERS CLUB

Excellent! This is one of the best books on the Inklings Ive ever read.

Walter Hooper, literary advisor to the C.S. Lewis Estate

No subject fascinates me as much as the creative interaction of the Inklings, and I am glad to read this new account. It is a brisk and honest retelling of the group and its members, always mindful to connect the Inklings and their ideas to their larger context. It is Duriezs best book to date. I recommend it.

Diana Pavlac Glyer, author of The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community

With The Oxford Inklings , Colin Duriez takes us deeper into the world of the Inklings than the commonly known facts about the writers to see how their scholarly work shaped their imaginations and their popular writing. Few people know the Inklings as intimately as Duriez who makes us feel as though he has just come from a morning with them at the Eagle and Child.

Harry Lee Poe, author of The Inklings of Oxford and C.S. Lewis Remembered

This is a valuable addition to Inklings studies, suitable both for beginners and for more seasoned readers. For those who dont know too much about the Inklings, Duriez provides a readable and well-rounded overview of the lives and works of Lewis, Tolkien, and their friends who comprised this famous literary band of brothers. Duriez is well-known for his thorough and diligent research, so this book also offers surprising and delightful insights even for readers who are familiar with earlier studies of the Inklings. The Oxford Inklings is enjoyable and enlightening for readers of all levels!

David C. Downing, author of The Most Reluctant Convert and Looking for the King

Here Colin Duriez extends his early excellent work on the friendship of Lewis and Tolkien to an examination of the mutually supportive relationships of all the Inkings in context. There is a particularly useful chronology of their friendship and creativity. This is a comprehensive exploration of inter-Inklings relationships in which Duriezs research is of its usual depth and quality and written in lucid prose that is a pleasure to read. It has the right emphasis, in Lewis words, on the Inklings merriment, piety, and literature.

Revd Dr Jeanette Sears

In this book, Colin Duriez offers readers an engaging, thoughtful look at the fascinating group of writers known as the Inklings. Building upon previous studies by Humphrey Carpenter, Diana Glyer, and others, Duriez brings new insights to bear as he contextualizes the thought and work of the Inklings, illuminating what drew them together as well as the profound yet still elusive influence they had upon each other. The Oxford Inklings is a worthy addition to the shelves of all who love the writings of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and their friends.

Marjorie Lamp Mead, Associate Director, The Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College, Illinois, USA

Just when I thought nothing new could be said about Lewis, Tolkien, Barfield, Williams, and the others, gifted author Colin Duriez presents fresh and fascinating insights that I will remember long after I place The Oxford Inklings on a shelf among my treasured favourites.

Carolyn Curtis, author, editor, speaker, whose latest book is Women and C.S. Lewis What his life and literature reveal for todays culture

Some previous books by this author relating to the Inklings:

Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings: A Guide to Middle-earth (2001) Tolkien and C.S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship (2003)

A Field Guide to Narnia (2004)

J.R.R. Tolkien: The Making of a Legend (2012) Amazing and Extraordinary Facts: J.R.R. Tolkien (2012)

C.S. Lewis: A biography of friendship (2013)

The A-Z of C.S. Lewis: An encyclopedia of his life, thought and writings (2013)

Contents

It is easy to see why Authority frowns on Friendship. Every real Friendship is a sort of secession, even a rebellion Hence if our masters ever succeed in producing a world where all are Companions and none are Friends, they will have removed certain dangers, and will also have taken from us what is almost our strongest safeguard against complete servitude.

C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

Preface

The Inklings were an influential group of writers, along the lines of the Lake Poets or the Bloomsbury Group, centred most notably on C.S. Lewis, and with J.R.R. Tolkien also at the core. They met regularly in the pubs of St Giles, Oxford to talk, and in the college rooms of Lewis at Magdalen College or Tolkien at Merton College to read and discuss their latest writings, and to talk more widely. My book explores their lives, their writings, their ideas, and most crucially the influence they had on each other. A defining purpose behind the group emerges that celebrates its diversity and lack of formality, based on a profound understanding of friendship. My book seeks to explain the mystery of how this eclectic group of friends, without formal membership, agenda, or minutes, came to have a purpose that shaped the ideas and publications of the leading participants.

Those who have enjoyed the now-famous writings of core members such as Lewis, Tolkien, Owen Barfield, and Charles Williams often find that the existence of the Inklings takes on a great importance for them. Questions then start to emerge: who else was involved with the Inklings, and why do Owen Barfield and Charles Williams matter so much? What difference did the Second World War make to the group, and why did they eventually stop meeting? This book explores the groups complex and fascinating interactions both within and outside the circle. I also consider the Christian faith of the groups members of various, often surprising strands which was a defining influence.

Although the Inklings were a literary group of friends, the membership was not made up exclusively of academics but included professional people from varied walks of life, from a doctor to a British army officer. The club existed in times of great change in Oxford, through the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, and petered out only with Lewiss death in 1963. Tolkien occasionally referred to it in his letters, once describing the club as an undetermined and unelected circle of friends who gathered around C.S. L[ewis], and met in his rooms in Magdalen. Our habit was to read aloud compositions of various kinds (and lengths!).