tolkien | chronology of a friendship

In his research for TOLKIEN, Ron Reed amassed a huge amount of information about J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, their friendship, and how the rest of the Inklings mix in. The result is an incredibly detailed timeline of their meetings, significant interactions, publications, and more. Below, we've got a portion of that data. Some of it you'll recognize from the play, and some elements didn't quite make the cut. Ready to dive in?

HISTORICAL CHRONOLOGY

1892, Jan 3 J.R.R. Tolkien born, Bloemfontein, South Africa
1898, Nov 29 Belfast, Ireland

1926, May 11 Tolkien meets Lewis
1929, Spring Lewis's Headington bus experience
1929, July Tolkien: "Friendship with Lewis compensates for much..."
1931, Sep 19/20 Addison's Walk conversation
1936, early Tolkien submits The Hobbit for publication
1936, Mar 11 Lewis writes Williams about Place of the Lion
1936, Mar 12 Williams writes Lewis about Allegory of Love
1936, May 18? Williams meets Lewis in Oxford?
1937, Sep 21 The Hobbit published
1937, Oct 15 Tolkien: "Nothing more to say about hobbits..."
1937, Dec 19 "I have written the first chapter of a new story about hobbits..."
1938, Sep 23 Out of the Silent Planet published
1939, May 6 Lewis riposte to "The Flowering Rifle" published

1939, Sep 3 Britain declares war on Germany
1939, Sep 4 Williams moves to Oxford
1939, Nov 9 Inklings meeting, "A roaring cataract of nonsense..."
1940, Jan 29 Williams' Chastity lecture
1940, May Warnie evacuated from Dunkirk
1940, Aug 16 Warnie returns to Oxford
1941 Witchcraft (by Charles Williams) published
1941, Aug 8 Lewis's first BBC broadcast talk
1942, Feb 9 Screwtape Letters published
1942, Mar 1 Socratic Club: "Are There Any Valid Objections To Free Love?"
1943, Apr 20 Perelandra published
1943, Dec 20 That Hideous Strength completed
1944, Jan Rings untouched for months; "I do not seem to have any mental energy or invention."
1944, Apr 1 Tolkien attends Birmingham reunion
1944, Apr 19 Tolkien: "Read The Dead Marshes to Lewis and Williams. It was approved."
1944, Oct 3 Campbell joins conversation at Eagle & Child. "Rather like the Prancing Pony."
1944, Oct 5 Campbell attends Inklings. "CSL's reactions were odd."
1945, May 8 "Hostilities will end at one minute past midnight tonight."
1945, May 9 Williams becomes ill
1945, May 15 Charles Williams dies

1945, Aug 16 That Hideous Strength published
1946, Feb Doctor orders Tolkien to apply for a term's leave. He does not.
1946, Sep 3 Lewis not elected as Merton Professor of Modern Literature
1946, Nov 28 Campbell attends Inklings
1947, Apr 24 Dyson vetoes reading from Lord of the Rings
1947, Sep 8 Time Magazine cover article on Lewis
1947, Dec 4 Essays Presented to Charles Williams published
1948, Jan 25 Tolkien writes Lewis, regrets pain he has caused, recent Inklings absences not connected to the disagreement
1948, Feb 2 Socratic Club: Elizabeth Anscombe, "Miracles: A Reply to Mr. C.S. Lewis"
1949, early Lewis shares The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with Tolkien
1949, Apr Tolkien, on Narnia: "It just won't do."
1949, Oct 27 "No one turned up after dinner" for Thursday night Inklings. Lewis writes to Tolkien with response to the completed Lord of the Rings, concluding "I miss you very much."

1950, Jan 10 Lewis receives first letter from Joy Davidman
1950, Oct 16 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe published
1952, Sep 24 Lewis meets Joy Davidman at Eastgate dining room
1954, Jul 29 First volume of Lord of the Rings published
1956, Apr 23 Lewis marries Joy Davidman in civil ceremony
1959, Mar 21 Lewis marries Joy Davidman in private religious ceremony
1960, Jul 13 Joy Davidman dies
1963, Nov 22 C.S. Lewis dies
1963, Nov 26 C.S. Lewis funeral

1973, Sep 2 J.R.R. Tolkien dies