After the war, JRRT became the Assistant Lexicographer with a group who was preparing the
New English Dictionary. While helping with this difficult work, he applied as a “Reader” (somewhat comparable to an associate professor) in English Language at the University of Leeds. To his surprise, he gained the post. At Leeds, he taught classes and continued his work on
Book of Lost Tales. He also co-founded the “Viking Club,” which promoted the study of Norse sagas and the drinking of beer. During this time, JRRT also enjoyed time with his wife and three sons, John, Michael and Christopher.
In 1925, JRRT received the Rawlinson and Borsworth Professorship of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford. Twenty years later, he changed his chair to Merton Professorship of English Language and Literature, where he remained until his retirement in 1959. While at Oxford, JRRT taught classes, worked on several translations, and pursued various literary endeavors. He also co-founded a writing and discussion group called “The Inklings”; among those who participated was C.S. Lewis, who became JRRT’s close friend. His great inspiration, however, did not come from his writing group, but from a homework assignment. One day, while grading papers, he found that a student had left a page of his work blank, except for this sentence: “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” Mystified, JRRT questioned the pupil about his cryptic sentence. Out of this query, JRRT began to develop a story. He shared the tale with his sons and daughter (Priscilla, born in 1929), who found it engaging. In 1936, an incomplete version of the story found its way into the hands of Susan Dagnell, an employee of the publishing company George Allen and Unwin. She encouraged JRRT to finish the book; when he did, she showed it to Stanley Unwin, who shared it with his 10-year-old son. The boy gave the volume high praise, and his father’s firm published it as
The Hobbit(1937) to great success.
The Hobbit sold so well that its publishers begged JRRT for a sequel. He then produced The Fellowship of the Ring(1954), The Two Towers(1955), The Return of the King(1956), collectively known as the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The series received mixed reviews, but soon became extremely popular. In fact, JRRT found his fame so disconcerting that he moved his family to Bournemouth.
J.R.R. Tolkien retired in 1969. Two years later, Edith died, leaving him a widower. On September 2, 1973, he passed away. JRRT and Edith are buried in a single plot in the Catholic section of Wolvercote cemetery in the northern suburbs of Oxford.
