What was J.R.R. Tolkien’s academic position at Oxford from 1925 to 1945?

From 1925 to 1945, J.R.R. Tolkien was the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University.

The professorship was based at Pembroke College, Oxford. Tolkien’s academic work focused on Old English language and literature, subjects that strongly influenced his fiction. His scholarship included the influential 1936 lecture “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics,” which helped redirect critical attention toward the poem’s artistry and structure.

In 1945, Tolkien moved to Merton College and became the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature. He held that chair until his retirement in 1959. The change in title reflects his broader responsibilities in English language and literature, rather than a departure from his earlier expertise.

The exact name of Tolkien’s first Oxford chair is often shortened incorrectly. It was not a general professorship in mythology or fantasy writing. His professional reputation began as a philologist and medievalist, and that scholarly background shaped the languages, poems, genealogies, and histories of Middle-earth.