What academic subject did J.R.R. Tolkien teach at Oxford University?

J.R.R. Tolkien taught English language and literature at Oxford University.

Tolkien held several academic posts at Oxford. He was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon from 1925 to 1945 and Merton Professor of English Language and Literature from 1945 until his retirement in 1959. His scholarly work focused especially on language, medieval texts, and the history of English.

His academic interests directly influenced his fiction. He studied Old English, Middle English, Old Norse, Welsh, Finnish, and other languages, and he used historical linguistics to develop the languages and names of Middle-earth. His 1936 lecture “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics” helped change the way the poem was studied by emphasizing its artistic structure rather than treating it only as historical evidence.

Although he is famous as a novelist, Tolkien’s professional identity was that of a philologist and university professor. His scholarship and imaginative writing grew from the same love of language.