Which Oxford university was J.R.R. Tolkien’s longtime academic institution?

The University of Oxford was J.R.R. Tolkien’s longtime academic institution.

Tolkien studied at Oxford, first at Exeter College, and later built most of his academic career there. He became a fellow and tutor at Exeter College before moving to other Oxford teaching posts. His work at the university combined medieval literature, philology, and the study of Old and Middle English.

He held the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon from 1925 to 1945 and then served as Merton Professor of English Language and Literature from 1945 until his retirement in 1959. These positions placed him among Britain’s leading scholars of early English language and literature.

Oxford also influenced his fiction. Landscapes around the city, academic colleagues, and discussions with fellow writers helped shape the intellectual world behind his stories. Tolkien’s friendship with C. S. Lewis and his participation in the Inklings are closely associated with his Oxford years.