Roger Lancelyn Green

Roger Lancelyn Green, (1918-1987), was without a doubt a very accomplished author. Like many of his fellow Inklings he dabbled in public speaking and attempted a few biographies, but his true passion was in fiction. His inspiration had always come from the works of Lewis Carroll, but would also come from his professor and mentor C.S.Lewis. During his life prior to his authorship he had a professional acting career (1942-1945), which was followed by a career with the William Nobel Research Committee (1945-1950) and then took up a seat in the Council of the University of Liverpool (1950-1952). During his short time with the Inklings, which followed the same timeline as his brief acting career, he published only one work, but learnt a great deal and gained plenty of inspiration for down-the-road. The only piece of literature he produced early in his life was during his occupation as a member of the William Nobel Research Committee. It was then that he assisted Edmund Ward in the composition of The Singing Rose and Other Poems. Only a year after leaving the Council of the University he began publishing again. This time he began to churn out books one after another, sometimes as many as three in one year. Several of his books are retellings of ancient Camelot, Robin Hood, and other famous characters, lore and history. A few are completely his own such as The Book of Nonsense, The Beaver Book of Other Worlds and The Land of the Lord High Tiger, which is said to be a marvelous continuation of fables from Narnia.

Other Works:
The Singing Rose and other poems (Edmund Ward 1947)
King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1956)
The Book of Nonsense (1956)
Two Satyr Plays: Euripides' Cyclops and Sophocles' Ichneutai (1957)
The Land of the Lord High Tiger (1958)
Tales of the Greek Heroes: Retold From the Ancient Authors (1958)
The Tale of Troy: Retold from the Ancient Authors (1958)
Mystery at Mycenae: An adventure story of ancient Greece (A wonderful world book) (1959)
Myths of the Norsemen: Retold from the Old Norse Poems and Tales (1960)
A Century of Humorous Verse 1850-1950 - Everyman's library (J. M. Dent & Sons 1959)
The Saga of Asgard: Retold from the Old Norse Poems and Tales (Puffin Books 1960)
The Luck of Troy (1961)
Authors & Places: A Literary Pilgrimage (1963)
Tellers of tales : British authors of children’s books from 1800 to 1964 (1965)
Tales the Muses told; ancient Greek myths (1965)
Tales from Shakespeare (Atheneum 1965)
Tales of Ancient Egypt (1967)
Ancient Greece (John Day Co. 1969)
A cavalcade of dragons (H. Z. Walck 1970)
A cavalcade of magicians (H. Z. Walck 1973)
Tale of Thebes (Cambridge University Press 1977)
The Beaver Book Of Other Worlds (1978)

Absolute Astronomy. 29 April 2010. http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Roger_Lancelyn_Green

Lord David Cecil

Lord David Cecil was an extraordinary biographer, employing artistic imagery and excellent narratives along with highly educated philosophies. Cecil was born in 1902 to one of England’s most influential aristocracies and wealthiest families of the time. The Cecil family’s legacy stretched back to Queen Elizabeth I with Robert Cecil, the first earl of Salisbury. Lord David Cecil published his first book in 1933, a biography of Sir Walter Scott. Lord David’s masterpiece of his life is considered the two volume biography of Lord Melbourne: The Young Melbourne and Lord M. He tended to focus more on the development of the individuals rather than composing stories that were abstract and complicated. When Cecil joined the Oxford University as a professor he united with the club of authors known as the Inklings and contributed in critiques and a captivated audience. While he was not a writer of the mythical he had an appreciation for his colegues’ work. Lord David Cecil continued writing until he was seventy-six years old, publishing his final work: A Portrait of Jane Austen in 1978. During his life he also received the Royal Society of Literature Companion of Literature and the Order of the Companions of Honour. He passed away eight years later and, due to his titles, was buried in an undisclosed location.



Other Literary Works:
A Portrait of Jane Austen
Melbourne
Early Victorian Novelists
Max: A Biography
The Cecils of Hatfield House: An English ruling family
The young Melbourne
Choice of Tennyson's Verse
The Fine Art of Reading
Victorian Novelists: Essays in Revaluation
The English Poets (Bratain in Pictures)
Modern verse in English (1900-1950)
Two Quiet Lives: Dorothy Osborne and Thomas Gray
Library Looking Glass: A personal anthology
The stricken deer: or The Life of Cowper
The Oxford Book of Christian Verse
A Portrait of Charles Lamb
Hatfield House
Lord M., or, The later life of Lord Melbourne
Visionary and Dreamer
Hardy the Novelist, an essay of Criticism
Young Melbourne: and the story of his marriage to Caroline Lamb
Poets and Story Tellers: A Book of Critical Essays
English short stories of my time

• The Library Thing. 21 April 2010. http://librarything.com
• Book Rags. 22 April 2010. http://www.bookrags.com
• 21 April 2010. http://www.answers.com

the Incredible Tolkien

John Ronald Reuel Tolkien is perhaps one of the best known authors of the club. As a child he lived in a comfortable sort of poverty in England until his mothered died. He and his brother were taken in by a priest for a time, and then an estranged and cool aunt. Even in his youth Tolkien was excelling in the written arts, mastering Latin and Greek before sixteen years old. As an adult he married his long-lost, childhood sweetheart and had four children. Upon his absence he would write them letters often ornately illustrated and addressed from Santa. These letters were later on published in 1976. After his children moved away and began lives of their own Tolkien found himself pining for an education; viewing it as an escape from the real world. Shortly before meeting the group of authors and poets called the inklings he had joined the University of Oxford as a professor of English and Literature. In working with the Inklings Lewis captivated young and old with mystical worlds paralleling God and the pursuit of virtue while Tolkien simply thrust his generation and every one that has followed into a fantastical universe. Many of his stories, particularly the first Lord of the Rings book, generated a sense of authenticity which in fact caused an eruption in cult-like followings in the 1960’s. David Doughan, who contributes to the Tolkien Society online, commented on this phenomenon saying that “The Lord of the Rings had almost become the Bible of the ‘Alternative Society’.” In the sixties it was considered the ultimate trip to Middle Earth to lose one’s self in reading his trilogy while taking in LSD. Eventually Tolkien experienced what our movies stars endure today; a constant onslaught of fans and stalkers asking for maps to the lost world among other nonsense. Tolkien finally retired to Bournemouth in secrecy with his wife until their last days together. After Edith’s death he moved back to Oxford where he spent his last two years. Today he and his wife are buried together in a single grave marked “Edith Mary Tolkien, Lúthien, 1889-1971, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, Beren, 1892-1973”. Lúthien and Beren: the purest and inseparable lovers in his novel the Silmarillion.

Other Literary works: The Middle English Vocabulary, Songs for the Philologist, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Farmer Giles of Ham, Sir Orfeo, The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Other Verses from the Red Book, Smith of Wootton Major, The Road Goes Ever On, Bilbo's Last Song, The Father Christmas Letters, The Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle Earth, Silmarillion, and many others. I highly recomend Silmarillion, myself.

Sources: http://www.tolkiensociety.org http://www.oxfordinklings.blogspot.com

Charles Williams

Williams is conceivably a brilliant writer, yet at the same time he may be one of the most difficult to understand. His writings stretch from a mystical, almost satanic view, implementing an array of religious symbols and themes, to theological and romantic views of Christianity. There seems to be no clear, decisive way to tell where all of his insight comes from. Williams dropped out of high school to help his father support their family, and as far as this blogger can tell, he never returned to a formal education system. Later in his life he began the start of his literary works (which are rather vast!) Before joining the Inklings he had already written several pieces, though very little was published; when I say very little I mean a small percentage of his work (roughly 20+ works) Williams became an intimate part of the Inklings' literary club and a close friend to C.S.Lewis, J.R.R.Tolkein and Hugo Dyson. Williams established the writing style Metaphysical Thriller; a spiritual and fictional story-type about change and coming-of-age. As the controversial author he was, he wrote on heaven and hell quite frequently in the days of the Inklings. Arguably his best piece was a novel titled Decent into Hell published in 1937.
Other Works: War on Heaven, Many Dimensions, The Place of the Lion, The Greater Triumphs, Shadows of Ecstasy, Decent into Hell, All Hallows Eve, and many poems and criticisms, biographies and plays, short stories and theological statements
"I believe we are living in 'the age of williams'...and our friendship with him will be our passport to fame."-Lewis

www.edlin.org,
The Crossroads. www.crossroad.to/excerpts/books/lewis/inklings-williams.htm www.touchstonemag.com/archives
Image: Breughel, 1562

C.S.Lewis

Lewis may be one of the best known Inklings, although he was not the first. He was and is to this day well known for his Chronicles of Narnia series. However he is the author of an immense number of other fictional stories as well as Christian novels. Even among non-Christians his religious works have become quite popular (i.e. the Screwtape Letters and This Present Darkness).
(Clive Staples) C.S.Lewis was born to an Irish family on November 29th in 1898. His family was religious, however as many adolescents do he fell away from all organized religion for quite some time. After years had passed, he had served in the military, and graduated with three degrees, he became a teacher at the Oxford University. Later in his occupation he met several other professors whom had the same aspirations and passions for writing. They had begun a writing guild of sorts (the Inklings) and Lewis felt compelled to join with these like-minded gentlemen. One author, Tolkien, had such an impact on Lewis that Tolkien was able to bring his friend back to Christianity.
Lewis would go on to write many, many books, and even host a radio broadcast on Christianity. Lewis died a few days short of his 65th birthday in 1963, three short years after his beloved wife passed away from cancer. His death was the same day as the assassination of Kennedy so there was a minimal amount of publicity when the proficient writer left this world.
Not too long after Lewis' death a foundation was begun on his behalf, duly named the C.S.Lewis Foundation. The inspiration for their core values and goals are derived from a book written by Lewis called Mere Christianity, which is mainly about the heart of the matter of being Christian. In 1986 the foundation became official and began on many projects, the latest being the C.S.Lewis College. Sponsored heavily by Hobby Lobby the campus in Northfield, Massachusetts was purchased on December 16th in 2009. The school is intended to be a visual and performing arts, four-year College, not ignoring the student's basic education or the written arts. Their hopes are to open the school in the fall semester of 2012 and welcome all ranges of Christian-based beliefs.

Links: http://www.cslewis.org http://www.cslewiscollege.org

Literary Works: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe series, Screwtape Letters, the Space Trilogy, the Great Divorce, Til We Have Faces, Spirits in Bondage, Dymer, the Four Loves, the Problem of Pain, Miracles, (possibly others)