Stephen Colbert has nerded out over Lord of the Rings many times before on The Late Show, and frankly it’ll never get old.
The latest glorious example came on Thursday during a segment on space news, when the discovery of a new star name Earendel prompted Colbert to launch into a truly impressive rundown of the name’s importance in Tolkien’s world.
“The lead author of the paper describing the star’s discovery has called it ‘Earendel’, which means ‘morning star’ in old English,” says the host in the clip above.
“OK, but more importantly it also inspired the name of Tolkien’s great half-elven mariner Eärendil, son of Tuor and Princess Idril, daughter of Turgon, and father of Elros and Elrond, who voyaged to Valinor, entreated the Valar on behalf of the Children of Ilúvatar, and was sentenced to undying doom to carry a Silmaril bound to his forehead as a star and sail across the sky in his great ship Vingilótë until the end of days in the Dagor Dagorath! NASA, return my calls!”
Seriously, NASA. Return the man’s calls.
