Colbert: 'Hobbit' cameo rumors 'an exciting and unverified escalation of my career'

Sitting near a transHobbitfied new set Monday, Stephen Colbert traced the stories related to his rumored involvement in the upcoming Hobbit movie adaptation.

His visit to the film's set earlier this year, the Colbert Report host said, played out like a media game of telephone, as the press went from asking if he would appear in the movie to reporting to saying he would star in the movie.

"I have to say, that was an exciting and unverified escalation of my career," Colbert snarked.

While he remained mum on what, if anything, his involvement in the movie will be, he did remind the audience of his well-documented passion for the original book series by J.R.R. Tolkien, greeting them with the Elvish saying Elen sila lumenn‘ omentielvo ("A star shines upon the hour of our meeting"), pointing out director Peter Jackson's endorsement of him in Entertainment Weekly and clutching the Elven blade Sting.

"You hear that, girls from middle school?" Colbert taunted, while a picture of his younger self appeared beside him. "I'm not a geek -- I'm King Geek. Buddy, just hang in there for another 35 years."

Watch Colbert tease out the mystery behind his connection to The Hobbit, as aired Monday on Comedy Central, below.