Which Oxford professorship did J.R.R. Tolkien hold from 1945 to 1959?

From 1945 to 1959, J.R.R. Tolkien held the title Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at the University of Oxford.

The professorship was based at Pembroke College, where Tolkien taught Old English and related subjects. His academic work focused on language, literature, and medieval texts, including Beowulf, the Old English epic that strongly influenced his thinking about myth and monsters.

Tolkien had already taught at Leeds and Oxford before taking the chair. In 1925 he became Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor, and in 1945 he moved to the Merton Professorship of English Language and Literature. That later post continued until his retirement in 1959.

The title is sometimes confused with Tolkien’s position at Merton College or with his later status as a professor emeritus. His academic career was not separate from his fiction: his expertise in historical languages, philology, and medieval storytelling helped shape the names, histories, and linguistic depth of Middle-earth.