J.R.R. Tolkien initially studied Classics at Oxford University. He entered Exeter College in 1911 and began with the classical languages and literature of Greece and Rome before changing his academic direction.
Tolkien later switched to the English Language and Literature course, where his particular interests included philology, the historical study of languages. He graduated with first-class honours in 1915. His training in language history became central to both his scholarship and his invented languages.
The change from Classics is sometimes overlooked because Tolkien is so closely associated with Old English, Middle English, and medieval literature. His Oxford education nevertheless gave him a broad foundation in ancient and medieval texts.
After serving in the First World War, Tolkien pursued an academic career. He taught at the University of Leeds and later held posts at Oxford, including the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon and the Merton Professorship of English Language and Literature.