At which university did J.R.R. Tolkien teach Anglo-Saxon from 1925 to 1945?

J.R.R. Tolkien taught Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford from 1925 to 1945.

He held the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford. The position reflected his expertise in Old English language and literature, subjects that strongly shaped his creative work. Tolkien later became the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford, serving from 1945 until 1959.

Oxford was central to Tolkien’s professional and social life. He taught, researched, wrote, and participated in literary discussion there for decades. His friendship with C.S. Lewis developed during this period, and Tolkien was also associated with the informal literary group known as the Inklings.

The title Anglo-Saxon in this context refers primarily to the study of Old English language and literature, not to a modern ethnic classification. Tolkien’s academic work on texts such as Beowulf influenced his understanding of heroic stories, monsters, language change, and the survival of fragments from older traditions.