I read that Tolkien and Lewis belonged to a literary club, and they wanted to write secular stories with Christian themes.
That is, The Hobbit & LOTR were not written as allegories, but the stories did explore themes like honor and duty, good versus evil, and so on.
Yes, Tolkien and Lewis, along with some other writers, met every week at a pub in Oxford called The Eagle and Child. They would hoist a few pints and read their current writing projects to the group.
I love that they called themselves The Inklings.
Had the good fortune to have a pint in that very pub in 2019.