At which university did J.R.R. Tolkien serve as a professor from 1925 to 1959?

J.R.R. Tolkien served as a professor at the University of Oxford from 1925 to 1959.

He first held the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford. In 1945 he moved to the Merton Professorship of English Language and Literature, a position he kept until his retirement in 1959.

His academic work focused on language and medieval literature, especially Old and Middle English. Tolkien’s expertise in texts such as Beowulf strongly influenced his understanding of myth, heroic storytelling, monsters, and poetic tradition.

Oxford also provided the setting for friendships that supported his writing. He was a member of the literary discussion group known as the Inklings, whose members included C.S. Lewis. Tolkien continued revising his mythology throughout his academic career.