W. P. Ker

William Paton Ker, FBA (30 August 1855 – 17 July 1923), was a Scottish literary scholar and essayist.

He became Professor of English Literature and History at the University College of South Wales, Cardiff, in 1883, and moved to University College London as Quain Professor in 1889.

He was later the Oxford Professor of Poetry from 1920[2] to his death, at 67, of a heart attack while climbing the Pizzo Bianco (a summit near Macugnaga in northern Italy).

[3][4] A W. P. Ker Memorial Lecture is held at Glasgow University in his honour.

He is referred to repeatedly in J. R. R. Tolkien's essay Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.