The Hobbit ,The Inklings And The New Middle Ages

A key text of Chesterton's with regard to the Inklings was the chapter entitled The Ethics of Elfland from his 1908 book Orthodoxy.In this chapter Chesterton defended the role of fairy stories as part of traditional culture in the upbringing of children.He is able to point out the moral content of the traditional fairy story and also the role of the fantastic element in stimulating the youthful imagination.Chesterton's defense of the fairy tale was later taken up and expanded by Tolkien in his long essay on Fairy Stories.The use of fairy tales in the work of C S Lewis is too obvious to need pointing out as is his debt to G K Chesterton of which I will expand on later.