Elwin Ransom
Elwin Ransom may be based on C. S. Lewis' friend J. R. R. Tolkien ("Elwin" means "Elf friend" in Anglo-Saxon), though he seems to have autobiographical elements. In "That Hideous Strength" Ransom, with his royal charisma and matter-of-fact breezy acceptance of the supernatural, appears less like Tolkien than like Charles Williams (or some of the heroes in Williams' books).
Niekas
Meskys later wrote, "I started a separate mailing-comments zine for the APA, and changed its name to "Niekas" and started the numbering over again with the June 1962 issue... Since there was no Tolkien fanzine being published I decided to devote "Niekas" to Tolkien and try to run at least one Tolkien related piece in each issue." The fanzine played a prominent role in the early development of Tolkien fandom in the United States. Issue #7 included a letter from C. S. Lewis to Meskys that mentions "The Lord of the Rings".