Fellowship & Fairydust

By G. Connor Salter

Is Charles Williams under-researched? Well, as one Williams expert said when I sought her feedback on an article about him, every Inkling except C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien has been under-researched. For all the thousands of books you can find on every aspect of Lewis and Tolkien, there are maybe a dozen books on their friend Owen Barfield.1

Being one of the four major Inklings, Williams has certainly been studied more than Inklings like Gervase Mathew or Colin Graham Hardie. However, Williams’ complex personality and writing interests have made him particularly hard to study. In The Fellowship, Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski observe that even Williams’ friends didn’t know what to make of him.

“Williams was a will-o’-the-wisp, a figure glimpsed in a fever dream. To attempt his portrait is to paint on air: ‘Williams! How many people have tried to describe this extraordinary man, and how his essence escapes them.’ Thus John Wain, who knew him well. Or Lewis, an intimate friend: ‘No man whom I have known was at the same time less affected and more flamboyant in his manners. The thing is very difficult to describe.’ Or T.S. Eliot: ‘I think he was a man of unusual genius, and I regard his work as important. But it has an importance of a kind not easy to describe.’ Three of the more articulate men of the century, tongue-tied—when it comes to Williams.”

The Fellowship by Philip and Carol Zaleski, 221

Part of the difficulty is that Williams had a mystical outlook. He was a lifelong practicing Anglo-Catholic, yet had a penchant for using unusual language (like calling God “the Omnipotence”). Some of his mystical ideas sound like heresy, and it would take a well-versed theologian to see if he was being heretical or simply offbeat. For example, Williams talked a great deal about co-inherence, a spiritual process that he believed allowed Christians to carry each other’s emotional or spiritual burdens.

Williams’ mysticism also had a dark side. Various women sought his spiritual advice, often developing feelings for him. Williams apparently knew many of his “disciples” were in love with him, but didn’t consummate relationships with them. He did sometimes do activities that had sadistic undertones, like hitting a woman’s hand with a ruler because she didn’t complete a spiritual exercise. Several women mentioned Williams spanking them with a ceremonial sword he kept in his desk. The full extent of Williams’ dark behavior didn’t become clear until decades after his death, in Grevel Lindop’s biography. Lindop also cleared up whether Williams belonged to the secret society the Order of the Golden Dawn or its (sort of) offshoot, the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross. It appears he belonged to both.

Williams’ complex work and complex personality make him a difficult, yet important figure to study. His behavior with some of his disciples was problematic. Yet as Higgins notes, “he also motivated many people to practice their Christianity more seriously and founded the Companions of the Co-Inherence in order to carry one another’s burdens” (“Intro”). Lindop notes how Williams met W.H. Auden in the late 1930s and introduced Auden to Søren Kierkegaard, an important factor in Auden’s return to Christianity (276). Sometime in 1943-1944, Williams introduced Dorothy L. Sayers to Dante, which inspired her to write the 20th-century’s best-known translation of The Divine Comedy (Lindop 405). While Tolkien later distanced himself from William’s legacy, letters indicate they were good friends in the 1940s—so much so that Williams was the first person to read a typescript of the in-progress Lord of the Rings (410). And this information only touches the tip of the reasons why Williams is worth studying, in all of his complexity.

Here are some great books to start studying Williams.

Best Books to Learn More about Charles Williams

On her website, The Oddest Inkling, Higgins provides an excellent guide to where readers should start with Williams’ books (“A Reader’s Guide”). The following is my own look at some great secondary sources for learning more about Charles Williams, focusing on books currently in print.

1. Charles Williams: The Third Inkling by Grevel Lindop. The official Charles Williams biography covers his life in detail, including material collected decades earlier in interviews with some of his remaining friends and acquaintances. Lindop not only delves deeper into Williams’ life than anyone before. He also shows moments when Williams was a prescient thinker, picking up on literary trends that more famous authors explored later.

2. The Novels of Charles Williams by Thomas Howard. Howard overviews all of Williams’ supernatural thrillers, from his first written (but not first published) Shadows of Ecstasy to his final All Hallows’ Eve. Howard not only makes these often complex and paradoxical stories clear to understand, but he also shows themes and ideas that appear across multiple novels.

3. Charles Williams: Poet of Theology by Glen Cavaliero. Cavaliero takes a broad look at Williams’ output, from his poems to his lay theology. Throughout, Cavaliero observes how co-inherence and the limits of human understanding appear in Williams’ work, forging a unique theological outlook. The book also considers how Williams compares to some writers from his period, such as how his supernatural thrillers compare to bestselling thriller novelist Dennis Wheatley.

4. The Company They Keep and Bandersnatch by Diana Pavlac Glyer. This entry requires a little more explanation. The Company They Keep is an in-depth scholarly analysis where Glyer considers how much Williams, Tolkien, Lewis, and the other Inklings informed each other’s work. Using her research, Glyer argues the preconception that the Inklings encouraged but didn’t influence each other is mistaken. While The Company They Keep is an excellent study, it is a meticulous work that requires dedication. Bandersnatch covers the same territory from a popular perspective, making it accessible to other readers. 

5. The Detective Fiction Reviews of Charles Williams, 1930-1935 by Jared Lobdell. While most of Williams’ novels can’t be classified as detective stories, he was very aware of the genre. Lobdell collects several hundred book reviews that Williams wrote over five years, including his thoughts on classics like Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. This study shows Williams as both a student and scholar of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.

6. The Inklings and King Arthur: J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, C. S. Lewis, and Owen Barfield on the Matter of Britain edited by Sørina Higgins. Arthuriana plays an important role in all of the major Inklings’ work, but there surprisingly hasn’t been a study devoted to their Arthurian interests… until this one. The contributors include Holly Ordway, Brenton Dickieson, and Malcolm Guite, covering Arthurian elements in everything from Williams’ novel War in Heaven to Tolkien’s poem “The Fall of Arthur.”

7. Charles Williams and C. S. Lewis: Friends in Co-Inherence by Paul Fiddes. The most recent biography on this list (published in January 2022) is the first book-length study of Williams’ friendship with Lewis and what they learned from each other. Fiddes particularly highlights how co-inherence played a role in both writers’ work and lives.

8. The Arthurian Poems of Charles Williams: Including Taliessin Through Logres and The Region of the Summer Stars with Other Poems edited by Grevel Lindop. Williams wrote many poems throughout his life, including dozens to his wife. His largest (and most complex) poetry was a series of poems based on Arthurian literature. This new book collects all of those poems, going all the way back to 1913 when Williams wrote the Arthurian play “The Pageant of Gwent.”

9. Under the Mercy: Charles Williams and the Holy Graal by Robert Peirano. Given his love for Arthuriana, it’s not surprising that Williams was fascinated by the Holy Grail. It appears in his poetry, and also in one of his novels. Peirano shows how Williams’ mystical beliefs and the Holy Grail’s place in the story of the first Eucharist and Jesus’ crucifixion make it more than just a magic object Williams could use as a MacGuffin in his thriller War in Heaven. It becomes something vital to understanding the spiritual life. Peirano guides readers through Williams’ complex writing to show how the Holy Grail plays a central across his work.

Readers seeking new editions of Williams novels or nonfiction books can find many of them reprinted by Apocryphile Press through its Inklings Heritage series.

Endnote: When I wrote this sentence, I did not know “a dozen books” was exactly correct. Eight days after writing this article, I had the opportunity to interview Barfield’s only grandson, Owen A. Barfield. He stated that a Lewis expert informed him there are approximately 10,000 books available on Lewis. Owen estimates there are 12 books available on his grandfather.

Further Reading/Sources Cited:

“The Inklings Heritage Series.” Apocryphile Press. apocryphilepress.com/book-series/inklings-heritage-series/.

Higgins, Sørina. “King and Priest and Sacrifice: A Review of Charles William’s Play ‘Seed of Adam.’” Fellowship & Fairydust, January 15, 2016. fellowshipandfairydust.com/2016/01/15/king-and-priest-and-sacrifice/.

—. “Intro.” The Oddest Inkling. theoddestinkling.wordpress.com/intro/.

—. “Reader’s Guide.” The Oddest Inkling. theoddestinkling.wordpress.com/a-readers-guide-for-beginners/.

—. “Is a ‘Christian; Mystery Story Possible? Charles Williams’s War in Heaven as a Generic Case Study.” Mythlore Vol. 30: No. 1, Article 5. dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol30/iss1/5.

Lindop, Grevel. Charles Williams: The Third Inkling. Oxford University Press, 1st edition, 2015.

Salter, G. Connor. “Why Was Charles Williams the Odd Inkling?” Christianity.com, July 19, 2022. christianity.com/wiki/people/why-was-charles-williams-the-odd-inkling.html.

—. “Who Were the Inklings Besides C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien?” Crosswalk.com, June 15, 2022. crosswalk.com/church/pastors-or-leadership/who-inklings-besides-cs-lewis.html.

—. “Inklings and Shapeshifters: Charles Williams’ Theology and Paul Schrader’s Cat People.” Fellowship & Fairydust, March 17, 2023. https://fellowshipandfairydust.com/2023/04/17/inklings-and-shapeshifters-charles-williams-theology-and-paul-schraders-cat-people/.

—. “Charles Williams & Dennis Wheatley: Writing of Dark Forces Part 1.” The Oddest Inkling, March 21, 2022. theoddestinkling.wordpress.com/2022/03/21/charles-williams-dennis-wheatley-writing-of-dark-forces-part-1/.

—. “Charles Williams & Dennis Wheatley: Writing of Dark Forces Part 2.” The Oddest Inkling, March 30, 2022. theoddestinkling.wordpress.com/2022/03/30/charles-williams-dennis-wheatley-writing-of-dark-forces-part-2/.

Zaleski, Philip and Carol Zaleski. The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.J.R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1st Paperback Edition, 2015.

Some of this material, in different words, was covered in a July 19, 2022 article for Christianity.com titled “Why Was Charles Williams the Odd Inkling?”