Bandersnatch: C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings

by Diana Pavlac Glyer

Apparently, good-natured conflict erupted whenever Barfield and Lewis got together. Tolkien says that Barfield “tackled” Lewis, “making him define everything and interrupting his most dogmatic pronouncements.” When Lewis summarized their relationship in Surprised by Joy, he characterized Barfield as “the man who disagrees with you about everything.” Over time, these intellectual skirmishes lengthened and deepened, becoming more formal and moving to the written page. For about nine years, roughly from 1922 to 1931, they sent letters back and forth, arguing about literature, language, poetry, and philosophy. Lewis describes the exchange as “an almost incessant disputation.” They called it the “Great War.”