J.R.R. Tolkien served as a professor at Oxford University.
Tolkien spent much of his academic career at the University of Oxford, where he taught subjects connected with English language and medieval literature. He was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon from 1925 to 1945, then Merton Professor of English Language and Literature from 1945 until 1959.
His scholarly work focused on languages, texts, and the imaginative traditions of the Middle Ages. This expertise helped him construct convincing histories, vocabularies, and linguistic relationships for Middle-earth.
Oxford was also important to Tolkien’s friendships. He belonged to the informal literary group known as the Inklings, which included C.S. Lewis. The group met mainly at Oxford’s Eagle and Child pub, commonly called the Bird and Baby.