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)