What was J.R.R. Tolkien's academic work in philology?
J.R.R. Tolkien was an academic philologist and English professor who held prestigious positions at the University of Oxford. From 1925 to 1945, he served as the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon, and later became the Merton Professor of English Language and Literature until his retirement. His deep philological expertise also influenced his son Christopher Tolkien, who applied similar editorial and linguistic skills to publish his father's extensive Middle-earth writings.
What we know
- J.R.R. Tolkien worked as an academic philologist and English professor at the University of Oxford. [1, 2]
- Tolkien served as the Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon and a Fellow of Pembroke College from 1925 to 1945. [2]
- Tolkien held the position of Merton Professor of English Language and Literature and Fellow of Merton College from 1945 until his retirement in 1959. [2]
- His son Christopher used his own background as a philologist to edit, research, and collate his father's posthumous works. [3]
Where to go next
- whoWho was Christopher Tolkien?
- how it workedHow did Tolkien's philology shape Middle-earth?
- a case in pointWhat is The Lord of the Rings?
- the bigger pictureWho were the Inklings?
- how we knowWhat is the biographical film Tolkien about?
- an unexpected connectionHow did medieval editing connect to Middle-earth?Christopher Tolkien used the exact philological skills he developed editing medieval works like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to compile his father's fantasy legends.
Sources
- [1]J. R. R. Tolkien bibliography · CC BY-SA 4.0
- [2]J. R. R. Tolkien · CC BY-SA 4.0
- [3]Christopher Tolkien · CC BY-SA 4.0
- [4]Tolkien (film) · CC BY-SA 4.0