What was J.R.R. Tolkien’s university degree subject at Oxford?

J.R.R. Tolkien studied English Language and Literature at Oxford University.

He entered Exeter College, Oxford, in 1911. Initially he studied Classics, but he changed to the English course in 1913, specializing in language and literature. He completed his degree after serving in World War I and graduated with first-class honours in 1915.

This education gave Tolkien a foundation in Old English, Middle English, Germanic philology, and medieval literature. Those subjects later informed both his academic career and his creative work, including the construction of languages and the use of heroic and mythic traditions.

Tolkien’s degree subject is sometimes reduced to “English,” which is broadly correct but less precise. The Oxford course combined the history of the English language with the study of English literary texts, matching the two major strands of his later career.