Editing J. R. R. Tolkien (section)

==== Second World War ====
[[File:UK-2014-Oxford-Merton College 05.JPG|thumb|upright|[[Merton College]], where Tolkien was Professor of English Language and Literature (1945–1959)]]

In the run-up to the [[Second World War]], Tolkien was earmarked as a [[Cryptanalysis|codebreaker]]. In January 1939, he was asked to serve in the [[Cryptography|cryptographic]] department of the Foreign Office in the event of national emergency. Beginning on 27 March, he took an instructional course at the London HQ of the [[Government Code and Cypher School]]. He was informed in October that his services would not be required.<ref>{{cite book |last=Turing |first=Dermot |title=The Codebreakers of Bletchley Park |year=2020 |publisher=Arcturus Publishing |location=London |isbn=978-1-78950-621-1 |page=51}}</ref><ref name="spy1" group="T">{{harvnb|Carpenter|Tolkien|1981|loc=''Letters'' #35 to C. A. Furth, [[Allen & Unwin]], 2 February 1939 (see also editorial note).}}</ref><ref name="spy3">{{cite book |last1=Hammond |first1=Wayne G. |title=The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide |title-link=The J.R.R. Tolkien Companion and Guide |last2=Scull |first2=Christina |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-618-39113-4 |volume=2 |pages=224, 226, 232 |author-link=Wayne G. Hammond |author-link2=Christina Scull}}</ref>

In 1945, Tolkien moved to [[Merton College, Oxford]], becoming the [[Merton Professors|Merton Professor of English Language and Literature]],<ref name="Grotta2001 page 110 ff">{{cite book |last=Grotta |first=Daniel |url={{Google books|9LHQvq6P5qIC |page=PA110 |plainurl=yes}} |title=J. R. R. Tolkien Architect of Middle Earth |date=28 March 2001 |publisher=Running Press |isbn=978-0-7624-0956-3 |pages=110– |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111194008/http://books.google.com/books?id=9LHQvq6P5qIC&pg=PA110 |archive-date=11 January 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> in which post he remained until his retirement in 1959. He served as an external examiner for [[University College, Galway]] (now The University of Galway), for many years.<ref>{{cite news |last=McCoy |first=Felicity Hayes |date=11 June 2019 |title=When my father met Gandalf: Tolkien's time as an external examiner at UCG |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/when-my-father-met-gandalf-tolkien-s-time-as-an-external-examiner-at-ucg-1.3921043 |url-status=live |access-date=3 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325113855/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/when-my-father-met-gandalf-tolkien-s-time-as-an-external-examiner-at-ucg-1.3921043 |archive-date=25 March 2021}}</ref> In 1954 Tolkien received an honorary degree from the [[National University of Ireland]] (of which University College, Galway, was a constituent college).<ref>{{cite web |date=3 March 2021 |title=Honorary Degrees Awarded |url=http://www.nui.ie/college/Honorary_Degree_Recipients.asp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128030329/http://www.nui.ie/college/Honorary_Degree_Recipients.asp |archive-date=28 January 2021 |access-date=3 March 2021 |publisher=[[National University of Ireland]]}}</ref> Tolkien completed ''The Lord of the Rings'' in 1948, close to a decade after the first sketches.<ref>{{harvnb|Carpenter|1977|pp=206–208}}</ref>