Which Oxford university post did J.R.R. Tolkien hold from 1925?

J.R.R. Tolkien became Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford in 1925. The chair was based at Pembroke College, where he taught Old English and related subjects.

The position reflected Tolkien’s standing as a philologist, especially in the study of Germanic languages and medieval literature. His academic work included the influential lecture “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics,” delivered in 1936. That essay helped change how scholars approached Beowulf by emphasizing its artistic structure rather than treating it only as historical evidence.

Tolkien later moved to Merton College in 1945, when he became Merton Professor of English Language and Literature. These two Oxford professorships are often confused because both were central to his career. His 1925 appointment specifically concerned Anglo-Saxon, the historical form of English represented by texts such as Beowulf.