What was J.R.R. Tolkien’s academic title at Oxford when he specialized in Old English?

J.R.R. Tolkien held the title Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford.

Tolkien was appointed to this professorship in 1925 and held it until 1945. The position was attached to Oxford University’s study of Anglo-Saxon, the name commonly used for Old English language and literature. His academic work included the history of English, philology, and the interpretation of medieval texts.

In 1945, Tolkien moved to another Oxford chair, becoming Merton Professor of English Language and Literature. He remained in that post until his retirement in 1959. The two titles are therefore connected to different periods of his academic career.

Tolkien’s scholarship was not separate from his imaginative writing. His knowledge of Old English, Old Norse, Welsh, Finnish, and other languages influenced the sounds, structures, and histories he created for Middle-earth. His 1936 lecture “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics” also became a major work in the study of the Old English poem.