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Meet the great grandson of J.R.R. Tolkien

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Meet Royd Tolkien – the great grandson of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit creator and author, J.R.R. Tolkien. He will be appearing as a guest speaker at The Learning Connexion on Monday the 19th June. 

Guest speaker: Royd Tolkien
Monday 19th June 2017
12.45pm-1.45pm

Certificate Studio T1.02
The Learning Connexion
182 Eastern Hutt Road
Taita, Wellington

(Free entry)

 

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Royd and Mike Tolkien, great grandsons of J.R.R. Tolkien.

 

“Every family has one, the brother who repeatedly climbed to the top rung of the ladder, the cousin who played with matches but never got burnt, the kid with an inborn, insatiable appetite for risk, always on the lookout for the next rush. That’s my little brother, Mike.”

 

Royd Tolkien, is currently travelling around New Zealand on an epic adventure set by his brother Mike Tolkien.

Royd’s strong, fearless little brother Mike had always wanted to go to Queenstown – the adventure capital of the world, but he never managed to fulfill this dream. That’s because in 2012 he was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease, also known as ALS and Lou Gehrig’s Disease. It was terminal with no known medical cure.

ALS destroys neurons that send signals to the different parts of the body while keeping the mind perfectly intact. Those afflicted become prisoners inside their own body as the disease aggressively renders their physical form useless.

To such an active adrenalin junkie like Mike, this news was devastating.

But whilst Mike slowly lost the ability to do the kinds of physical activities he once did with ease, he impressed his brother, and others, through his inner strength, spirit and determination in facing this awful disease head on. 

Sadly, on January 28th 2015 at age 39, Mike lost the battle and passed away. But before Mike passed, he set Royd, 47, a challenge. A quest his great grandfather J.R.R. Tolkien, and Gandalf, would be proud of.

Mike set older brother Royd a challenge: to walk in his shoes and travel to New Zealand for him. He had drawn up a bucket list, a seriously bad-ass bucket list.

The best thing about this list is that Royd has absolutely no idea what’s on that list. Mike compiled the list over the last two years of his life and on it are 50 crazy things he wants his brother Royd to do. To-date Royd has already been body painted, jumped off a bridge, shaved his head and had a tarantula crawl over him.

 

Feeling the fear, but doing it anyway.

A self proclaimed wuss, Royd plans to complete this list in memory of Mike by any means possible and, by doing so, will face his own personal fears just as Mike had to face his.

Royd’s quest, which began at Mike's funeral in 2015, is also being turned into a 90 minute documentary called There's a Hole in my Bucket. The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, actor Billy Boyd, who played Pippin, and John Rhys Davies, who played Gimli, are also set to appear in the film.

 

http://youtu.be/NOr7hXGrTvU

 

Theres A Hole In My Bucket

There’s a hole in my bucket image sourced from Evolution Films.
 

His grief he will not forget;

But it will not darken his heart,

It will teach him wisdom.

J.R.R. Tolkien

 

Visit The Learning Connexion on Monday the 19th June to hear more about Royd’s quest, his adventurous brother Mike, and learn how you too can conquer your own fears, seize today, and achieve things you once thought were impossible.

 

 

Comments

  • Chris Lawson
    13/06/2017 3:36am (7 years ago)

    Hi there - just read your article about the talk by Royd Tolkien on the 19th and I am very interested in attending.