Which Oxford college employed J.R.R. Tolkien from 1925 to 1945?

Pembroke College employed J.R.R. Tolkien from 1925 to 1945.

Tolkien joined Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1925 as Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon. During this period he taught and researched Old English and related subjects while developing much of the mythology that later supported The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

His time at Pembroke included the publication of The Hobbit in 1937 and the composition of substantial parts of The Lord of the Rings. The college therefore formed an important setting for both his academic career and his creative work. Tolkien’s private writing was not a separate activity from his scholarly interest in languages, legends, and medieval literature.

In 1945, Tolkien moved to Merton College, where he became Merton Professor of English Language and Literature. Exeter College, by contrast, was where he had studied as an undergraduate. These three Oxford colleges are consequently easy to confuse in biographical questions.