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There's great power in nature in the realm of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. And apparently, the actor that played one of his greatest characters agrees with him. At least, that's what we gathered from Glasgow Film Festival 2024, where Aragorn himself, Viggo Mortensen, revealed that he carries certain good luck tokens with him to speaking events. And at the one in question, he happened to have a very Middle-Earth coded one on him - a humble acorn. 

Mortensen was at the Glasgow Film Festival for a career retrospective and, at one point in the discussion, was asked by his moderator what role luck has played in his very successful career.

"Do you believe in kind of putting energy out in the universe?" asked moderator Anna Smith.

"Not really," said the Lord of the Rings and Prophecy actor. Although he did feel it was important to clarify: "I have my superstitions." At this point in the panel, Mortensen reached into the pocket of the blazer he was wearing to pull out two curious items.

"Let's see what I have if I have with me today," the actor said, "I don't know what they do, but they just keep you focused. OK I have this, that's a piece of yellow quartz... and I have an acorn." After some buzz from the audience, Smith asked what purpose the charms serve in Mortensen's day to day. "They just keep me calm," he responded, "I don't know that they do anything, but I like them. It's like being with friends, you know?"

Noting that Mortensen is already quite calm, Smith asks why he would need even more of that energy.

"I'm calm," Mortensen chuckled, "But I can be nervous. I was nervous coming over here; there a lot of people. I have to say, it's a very nice room. Thank you for making me feel so welcome."

Well of course they were going to be welcoming, Viggo - you're Aragorn, son of Arathorn! But I guess reminding the crowd that you've got Treebeard on speed dial isn't a bad idea when entering a crowded room. After all, you never know where a random orc might show up these days.

Whether you're Shirefolk, Elven, Dwarven, or something else, there's a good reason to love Lord of the Rings. We do! With that in mind, we have a dragon's horde of goodies for you from a Lord of the Rings reading guide, a Lord of the Rings watch guide, details on the upcoming animated film Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim, a full the Lord of the Rings reunion panel you can watch, how the OG Hobbit actors stay in touch every day on a groupchat, and the true message of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, according to Gimli himself - John Rhys-Davies.