Stephen King's the Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance Revised and Updated (103 page)

MAERLYN’S GRAPEFRUIT

See
MAERLYN’S RAINBOW
,
in
CHARACTERS

MAERLYN’S RAINBOW

See
MAERLYN’S RAINBOW
,
in
CHARACTERS

MAGICAL DOORS

See
DOORWAYS BETWEEN WORLDS

MAGNETIC HILLS

See
BORDERLANDS
,
in
MID-WORLD PLACES

MALL

See
DEVAR-TOI
;
see also
NEW YORK
(STATE OF): NIAGARA MALL,
in
OUR WORLD PLACES

MANSION, THE

See
DOORWAYS BETWEEN WORLDS

MECHANICAL DOORS

See
DOORWAYS BETWEEN WORLDS

MEXICO

See
MEXICO
,
in
OUR WORLD PLACES;
see also
TODASH
,
below

MIA’S CASTLE

See
CASTLE DISCORDIA

MID-WORLD AMUSEMENT PARK

In the children’s story
Charlie the Choo-Choo,
the talking train CHARLIE is given a nice retirement taking children round and round on a track located in CALIFORNIA’s Mid-World Amusement Park. The Mid-World Amusement Park doesn’t exist on KEYSTONE EARTH. However, a version of it exists in the alternative TOPEKA that Roland’s
ka-tet
reaches after their catastrophic ride on BLAINE the Insane Mono. In the alternative Topeka, a rather sinister Charlie resides in the REINISCH ROSE GARDEN.

III:145

MID-WORLD LANES

When JAKE CHAMBERS lived in NEW YORK CITY, he liked to go bowling at MID-TOWN LANES. When he and his
tet
travel TODASH to the magical Vacant LOT at the beginning of
Wolves of the Calla,
Jake finds a twinner of his old bowling bag amid the trash and weeds growing near the singing ROSE. This
todash
bag looks almost exactly like his New York bowling bag, except his New
York bag said, “Nothing but Strikes at Mid-Town Lanes,” while his
todash
bag reads “Nothing but Strikes at Mid-World Lanes.” Our
tet
uses this bag to carry BLACK THIRTEEN. Back in
The Waste Lands,
Jake was accosted by an officer of the law in TIMES SQUARE. (Jake was on his way to DUTCH HILL’s haunted MANSION.) When the policeman asked him for identification, Jake offered to show his Mid-World Lanes membership card.
See also
NEW YORK
: MANHATTAN: MID-TOWN LANES,
in
OUR WORLD PLACES.

III:168, V:198, V:316, V:506, V:704, VI:329, VI:335, VII:143

MID-WORLD RAILWAY (KANSAS-TO-TOPEKA LINE)

We first learn about the Mid-World Railway through the children’s book
Charlie the Choo-Choo,
which JAKE CHAMBERS finds in the MANHATTAN RESTAURANT OF THE MIND. Despite the fact that it was written for kiddies, Jake finds the story (and the main character, a talking train) extremely sinister. Jake senses that CHARLIE is a force of destruction, and that the Mid-World Railway has only one ultimate destination—the LAND OF DEATH.

Jake’s vision of a killer train on a death-track prefigures the actual Mid-World Railway that exists on Roland’s level of the TOWER. In Roland’s world, Charlie is replaced by the talking mono BLAINE, though their routes are very similar. In Roland’s world,
char
means “death.” Hence, Charlie (like Blaine) is literally a killer train. Roland, Jake, and their
ka-tet
survive Blaine only to find a toy version of Charlie’s railway in the alternative TOPEKA.
For more information on the children’s book, see entry under
CHARLIE THE CHOO-CHOO,
in
CHARACTERS

BLAINE’S VERSION:
III:267

CHARLIE THE CHOO-CHOO VERSION:
III:139–46, III:266

MIND-TRAP

See
DIXIE PIG
,
above

MORDOR

This realm of darkness and death can be found in J. R. R. Tolkien’s famous trilogy,
The Lord of the Rings.
SUSANNAH thinks about Mordor and the Cracks of Doom as she rides through the WASTE LANDS beyond LUD.

III:406

MULTIPLE AMERICAS (ALTERNATIVE AMERICAS)

See entry in
OUR WORLD PLACES

**NA’AR

When WALTER reads Roland’s cards in the 2003 version of
The Gunslinger,
he calls him the Hanged Man, plodding ever onward toward his goal over the pits of Na’ar. In
Wolves of the Calla
we find out that Na’ar is the MANNI equivalent
of Hell. Roland wonders whether the voices issuing up from the PIT OF VOICES (located in the DOORWAY CAVE) are actually the voices of the damned rising out of Na’ar. According to the Manni, all of the Forgetful Folk (those who leave their tribe to marry heathens) are doomed to spend eternity in Na’ar.

V:408, V:511, VII:384, W:227

NEW YORK, TODASH

See
NEW YORK CITY
,
in
OUR WORLD PLACES;
see also
TODASH
,
below

NIS

Nis is the name of Mid-World’s dream god. It is also the name of his realm of sleep and dreams. The CRIMSON KING’s horse is named Nis. In
The Wind Through the Keyhole,
Nis is sometimes used interchangeable with NA’AR. (People often use the exclamation “What in Nis,” as in “What in Nis are you talking about?”)

V:500
(god),
V:549, VII:601
(Land of sleep and dreams, also Red King’s horse),
W:138, W:217

NONES

The Moon Peddler comes from the Nones bearing his sack of squealing souls.

IV:274

NORTH CENTRAL POSITRONICS NORTHEAST CORRIDOR ARC QUADRANT OUTPOST 16

See
DOGAN
: CALLA DOGAN

NOWHERE LANDS

See
DISCORDIA

ODD LANE (ODD’S LANE)

See
EMPATHICA, WHITE LANDS OF

ORACLE OF THE MOUNTAINS

See
STONE CIRCLES
(SPEAKING RINGS)

OUTER DARK

See entry in
APPENDIX I

OZ

Oz is the magical land which the cyclone-blown Dorothy visited in the famous book-turned-film
The Wizard of Oz.
At the end of
Wizard and Glass,
our
tet
visits a version of Oz’s GREEN PALACE.

V:70, V:166
(Wizard of),
V:567, VI:223, VI:308, VII:173, W:3

PALACE OF GREEN GLASS

See
GREEN PALACE
, THE

PATH OF THE BEAMS

See
BEAMS, PATH OF THE

PINK ONE, THE

See
MAERLYN’S RAINBOW
,
in
CHARACTERS

**PLACE OF BURNING DARKNESS

See
END-WORLD

PLANET AFTERLIFE

This is PERE CALLAHAN’s term for death. After he falls from the window of SOMBRA CORPORATION’s headquarters in DETROIT, Callahan wonders whether he’s landed on Planet Afterlife. He hasn’t. He’s landed in the MOHAINE DESERT’s WAY STATION.

V:458

PLEASANTVILLE

See
DEVAR-TOI

POCKET PARK

See
NEW YORK CITY
: MANHATTAN: SECOND AVENUE,
in
OUR WORLD PLACES

PORTALS

See
DOORWAYS BETWEEN WORLDS
and
BEAMS, PATH OF THE

PORTALS OF THE BEAM

In
The Waste Lands,
Roland draws a metaphysical map of MID-WORLD. This map is shaped like a wheel. At the center of the wheel is the DARK TOWER, also known as the THIRTEENTH GATE. The twelve power points on the rim of this wheel are known as PORTALS. These Portals are actually twelve doorways leading into and out of Mid-World. The six BEAMS, which connect opposite Portals and which pass through the nexus of the Dark Tower, are like high-tension wires that maintain the proper alignment of time, space, size, and dimension. They can be seen and felt by those who pass near them.

According to HAX, when the GREAT OLD ONES re-created the world, they made twelve Guardians to watch over the twelve Portals. These GUARDIANS OF THE BEAM, also known as TOTEMS OF THE BEAM, had animal shapes. Although we met MIR/SHARDIK, the cyborg Bear Guardian, it seems highly likely that the Beams, Guardians, and Dark Tower existed before the technology of the Great Old Ones came into being.

The portals are not the only doorways into and out of Mid-World, but they are the most powerful ones. Their health is intrinsically tied to the health of the Dark Tower, the Beams, and the time/space continuum. As the alterations the Old Ones made to the fabric of reality begin to unravel, THINNIES appear. Thinnies are like extremely nasty portals. We don’t know where they lead, but it seems likely that they transport their victims to the demon-haunted emptiness between worlds. Like BLAINE’s termination point in TOPEKA, the Portals of the Beam are marked with yellow and black stripes.
See also
BEAMS, PATH OF THE
,
and
GUARDIANS OF THE BEAM
,
in
CHARACTERS,
and
GREAT WEST WOODS,
in
MID-WORLD PLACES.

III:37–40, III:51, III:65–77
(one of six paths to the Dark Tower),
III:78
(bone-littered clearing),
III:81, III:84, III:153, III:154, III:162, III:260, III:262, III:264, III:394, III:407, IV:42
(Eddie’s memory)

PRIM

See entry in
CHARACTERS

QUONSET HUT

See
DOGAN

RED KING’S CASTLE

See
CASSE ROI RUSSE

RED ROSES, FIELD OF

See
DARK TOWER
: CAN’-KA NO REY

REINISCH ROSE GARDEN

See
KANSAS (STATE OF)
: TOPEKA: GAGE PARK,
in
OUR WORLD PLACES

ROOMS OF RUIN

See
CASTLE DISCORDIA

ROTUNDA

See
DIXIE PIG
;
see also
CASTLE DISCORDIA
and
DOGAN
: FEDIC DOGAN

‘SALEM’S LOT

See
MAINE (STATE OF)
: ALTERNATIVE AMERICAS AND THE STATE OF MAINE,
in
OUR WORLD PLACES

SHARDIK’S LAIR

See
BEAMS, PATH OF THE
and
PORTALS OF THE BEAM;
see also
GREAT WEST WOODS,
in
MID-WORLD PLACES,
and
GUARDIANS OF THE BEAM
,
in
CHARACTERS

SNOWLANDS

See
EMPATHICA, WHITE LANDS OF

SOUTH PLAINS

See entry in
MID-WORLD PLACES

SPEAKING RINGS

See
STONE CIRCLES
(SPEAKING RINGS)

STAGING AREA (WOLF STAGING AREA)

See
DOGAN
: FEDIC DOGAN

STEEK-TETE

See
DEVAR-TOI

STONE CIRCLES (SPEAKING RINGS, DRUIT STONES)

MID-WORLD contains many ancient stone circles. These circles (also known as Speaking Rings) are the haunts of spirits and oracles. In these demonic places, the boundaries between the visible and invisible worlds are thin.

The first Speaking Ring we see is the ORACLE OF THE MOUNTAINS, found in
The Gunslinger.
The second one we see is in
The Waste Lands,
along the PATH OF THE BEAM. It is through this second Speaking Ring that our
ka-tet
draws JAKE CHAMBERS into Mid-World.

We don’t know who created the Stone Circles, or whether they predate the technological rule of the GREAT OLD ONES, or came during the postapocalyptic dark age that followed. However, we do know that Roland sees them as ancient, mysterious, and dangerous—hence they must precede the rise of GILEAD and the IN-WORLD BARONIES by many hundreds of years. Although we do not know who lifted these heavy stones and made them reach toward the sky, we do know that human sacrifice was often practiced within them, and possibly contributed to their sinister energy.

GENERAL REFERENCES:
II:367
(Druit Stones)

ORACLE OF THE MOUNTAINS:
The Oracle of the Mountains is the name Roland gives to the Speaking Ring succubus that he and JAKE encounter in the WILLOW JUNGLE located in the foothills of the
CYCLOPEAN MOUNTAINS. Although this demoness originally tried to draw Jake into her circular lair, Roland thwarted her, saving Jake from almost certain death. In the end, Roland offers himself to this hungry succubus so that he can force her to make a prophecy. Roland uses mescaline, a drug which CORT once called the Philosopher’s Stone, to draw the demon, but after he has extracted information from her he must pay her sexual price. The oracle uses
glammer
to conjure the scent and voice of Roland’s lost love, SUSAN DELGADO.

In
Song of Susannah,
we learn that this oracle was no run-of-the-mill demon sexpot. In fact, she was the female aspect of a DEMON ELEMENTAL and had been sent to her Speaking Ring specifically to collect Roland’s sperm for the servants of the CRIMSON KING. (Our gunslinger’s seed was then used to create MORDRED DESCHAIN.) I:121–22, I:124, I:126–32, I:134, I:138, II:315, III:172–73, IV:68, VI:112–13
(Place of the Oracle)