Stephen Colbert remains undefeated in Lord of the Rings trivia

Stephen Colbert once again showed off his impressive knowledge of all things J.R.R. Tolkien.

Being a late night talk show host these days means you have to be a well-rounded individual. A host has to be just as comfortable talking about politics as he or she is talking about the entertainment industry. For Stephen Colbert, nothing is more comforting than talking about Lord of the Rings.

Since taking over The Late Show, Stephen Colbert has become the late night expert on all things Donald Trump. Covering every policy, every speech, and every tweet has helped The Late Show with Stephen Colbert climb to the top of the ratings and landed several Emmy nominations.

But Colbert has another stronger area of expertise: the world of J.R.R. Tolkien. The comedian is a diehard fan of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings novels and movies. Director Peter Jackson called Colbert the biggest Tolkien fan he’d ever met and even gave Colbert a cameo in The Hobbit.

Thursday night’s Late Show featured actor Lee Pace as a guest. Pace played the elf Thranduil in the three Hobbit movies. Knowing Colbert is a massive fan, Pace tried to greet his host in the fictional Quenya language and ended up letting Colbert show off his Tolkien trivia.

It must be a reflex for Colbert at this point to rattle off as much trivia as he can when anything Lord of the Rings gets brought up in conversation. Unless you are also a Tolkien fanatic, it’s impossible to know if what he said is actually true. But Colbert’s past performances suggest you should probably take his word when it comes to Sindar elves struggling to speak Quenya.

Colbert first started showing off his Tolkien knowledge while hosting The Colbert Report. In a pair of memorable appearances, actor James Franco tried to challenge Colbert to a trivia showdown. It did not end well for Franco.

That showdown with Franco was brought up during Ryan Gosling’s appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2016. Gosling brought along a trivia question written by his mother in an attempt to stump Colbert.

Colbert has kept it going while at The Late Show. Last year, HQ Trivia host Scott Rogowsky brought a Lord of the Rings question to his appearance that didn’t quite let Colbert show off his book knowledge.

Like Lee Pace, a number of actors and actresses from the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films have been a guest on The Late Show. Even years after the movies have come out, the conversation with Colbert inevitably returns to that world.

It is clear that any actor from a J.R.R. Tolkien inspired movie should be prepared if going on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. And if anyone wants to try to stump Colbert, his only weakness may be page numbers so good luck.