Which Oxford college did J.R.R. Tolkien serve as a fellow while writing The Hobbit?

J.R.R. Tolkien served as a fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, while writing The Hobbit. He held a fellowship and taught at Pembroke from 1925 until 1945.

Tolkien wrote much of The Hobbit during this period, and the book was published in 1937. He also began developing material that would eventually become The Lord of the Rings while he was associated with Pembroke. His Oxford duties included teaching and scholarship in language and medieval literature, alongside the private creative work that made him famous.

Pembroke is sometimes confused with Merton College because Tolkien later became Merton Professor of English Language and Literature. That professorship began in 1945, after he moved from Pembroke to Merton. The two colleges therefore represent different stages of his Oxford career: Pembroke is linked with the composition and publication of The Hobbit, while Merton is linked with his later senior chair. Both were important to Tolkien’s academic life.