What Oxford academic chair did J.R.R. Tolkien hold from 1925?

J.R.R. Tolkien became the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford in 1925.

The chair focused on Old English language and literature, fields central to Tolkien’s scholarly life. He held the post until 1945, when he moved to Oxford’s Merton Professorship of the English Language and Literature. His academic expertise included texts such as Beowulf, Middle English poetry, and the history of languages.

Tolkien’s scholarship and creative writing were closely connected, although he did not simply convert academic texts into fantasy stories. His knowledge of Germanic languages, medieval literature, and traditional legends informed the naming, sound, and historical depth of Middle-earth.

The title is sometimes shortened to “Professor of Anglo-Saxon,” but the full official name is the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon. Tolkien was succeeded in the chair by Charles Leslie Wrenn.