Endings have a tendency to make people emotional, but it wasn’t the conclusion of “The Colbert Report” in 2014 that made Stephen Colbert’s wife, Evie, so misty-eyed. The reason why had to do with the only prop Colbert took from the set. Per an interview with Howard Stern, he took Captain America’s shield, which had decorated the set for awhile. He had installed the prop after a major event took place in Cap’s life.

“Years and years ago, when Captain America was killed in the book version of Civil Wars, he’s assassinated. I got a letter from Joe Quesada, who’s the managing editor of Marvel. And I got a big box and a letter, and the letter said ‘we read Cap’s will, and he said you were the only person patriotic enough to handle the solid Vibranium shield.'” Colbert explained that the shield had been hanging on the wall of Marvel’s offices since sometime in the 1960s. “And my wife, who doesn’t know anything about comic books or superheroes, she read the letter, and she said, with tears in her eyes, she goes, ‘I don’t know what any of this means, but I’m so proud of you.'”

The touching anecdote is a tribute to Colbert’s well-known nerdom, which has helped put many of the properties he adores in the spotlight.

It’s not a huge secret that Stephen Colbert is a pretty big nerd. To wit: he’s such a big fan of the story of “The Lord of the Rings” that Peter Jackson said of him to Access Hollywood, “I have never met a bigger Tolkien geek in my life.” Colbert’s knowledge of Tolkien’s series is so extensive that he managed to beat a Tolkien expert in a battle of wits over the book series. He speaks fluent elvish, as he once displayed on an episode of Conan O’Brien, and owns a collection of prop swords from the film series. His Tolkien nerdiness became so well known that he landed a cameo in Jackson’s “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” in spite of his confession that he finds the book version to be “meh.”

Outside of his love for “Lord of the Rings” and comic books, he’s an admitted conventiongoer, having attended GenCon. He plays Dungeons and Dragons — a game Chris Pine says everyone should play – and is so devoted to the hobby he has an original first-run manual signed by Gary Gygax, creator of the game. He has participated in games of Dungeons and Dragons with the “Critical Role” cast and dungeon master Matt Mercer for charity. His production company is even set to produce an adaptation of Roger Zelazny’s “The Chronicles of Amber” fantasy series. Now that’s what we call putting your money where your heart is.