G.H. Cowling

From Tolkien Gateway
Professor George Herbert Cowling

George Herbert Cowling (1881- 23 July 1946) was a British philologist and friend of J.R.R. Tolkien.[1]

Biography[edit | edit source]

In 1920 Cowling was lecturing at the University of Leeds, as Assistant Lecturer in English Language under Tolkien and E.V. Gordon.[2][1] In 1925, when Tolkien moved to the University of Oxford, Cowling was appointed Reader.[2] He subsequently moved to Australia to take up the Chair of English at the University of Melbourne in 1928. The Tolkien and Cowling families remained friends; in 1938 they stayed with J.R.R. and Edith at Oxford when on sabbatical leave.[1]

His wife Muriel (Mollie) maintained contact with the Tolkien family after her husband's death, and visited the Tolkiens in England on several occasions. During such a visit in 1955, Muriel was given signed copies of three volumes of The Lord of the Rings (in which Tolkien included a Tengwar inscription).[1]

See also[edit | edit source]

References