What was J.R.R. Tolkien’s first academic professorship at Oxford?

J.R.R. Tolkien’s first Oxford professorship was the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon.

He took up the post at Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1925. The position reflected his specialist training in historical linguistics and Old English literature, especially his work on texts such as Beowulf. Tolkien held the professorship until 1945, when he moved to Merton College and became professor of English language and literature.

The title is often shortened to the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship or described simply as Tolkien’s Anglo-Saxon chair. It should not be confused with his later Merton professorship, which he held from 1945 until his retirement in 1959.

His academic work and imaginative writing developed together. The languages and legends he studied professionally supplied techniques, vocabulary, and historical textures that helped shape Middle-earth, although his fiction was not merely a retelling of Old English literature.