Elijah Wood Just Dropped Lord of the Rings News 27 Years in the Making

Elijah Wood just confirmed one of those rumors that has floated around nerd circles for years, and it is both funny and kind of perfect: nearly three decades after stepping into Frodo Baggins' hairy feet, he still has not finished reading The Lord of the Rings. The good news? He finally cracked the books.

Elijah Wood, late night confession

On The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Colbert brought up the long-whispered rumor and asked Wood point-blank if he still had not made it through Tolkien's epic. Wood admitted he felt extra sheepish saying this in front of Colbert, who he called the most devoted Tolkien die-hard he knows.

Wood also put a very specific timestamp on things: by his count, it has been 27 years since he first joined the franchise, since filming kicked off in August or October of 1999. And after all that time, he finally decided to start reading the trilogy for real.

'I have started them.'

'And they are incredible.'

Colbert thanked him for that and could not resist a gentle jab about the ending:

'I do not want to tell you how it ends... but I will give you a hint. You know how it ends.'

For anyone keeping score: yes, Frodo himself went years without finishing the books that turned him into a global icon. Not exactly a scandal, more like a delightful bit of trivia. And honestly, with Middle-earth still lodged in pop culture's bloodstream all these years later, the timing feels pretty great for him to take the long walk through the pages at last.