What was J.R.R. Tolkien’s Oxford academic title when he was appointed in 1925?

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

The professorship was based at Pembroke College, Oxford, where Tolkien taught Old English, Middle English, and related subjects. The title reflected the field then commonly called Anglo-Saxon studies, especially the language and literature of early medieval England.

In 1945 Tolkien moved to Merton College and became Merton Professor of English Language and Literature. That later position is often remembered more broadly, so the two professorships can be mixed up. Tolkien’s academic work on Old English, medieval poetry, and language history informed his creative writing, although Middle-earth was not simply a retelling of any one medieval source.