Read Stephen King's the Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance Revised and Updated Online
Authors: Robin Furth
Stephen King's the Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance Revised and Updated (105 page)
MEXICO (VIA BLACK THIRTEEN):
LOS ZAPATOS (VIA BLACK THIRTEEN):
In the years before our
tet
reached CALLA BRYN STURGIS, FATHER DONALD CALLAHAN traveled here, propelled by BLACK THIRTEEN. Los Zapatos is also the village where we find BEN MEARS and his eleven-year-old companion, MARK PETRIE, at the beginning of
’Salem’s Lot.
(The body of the novel is told in retrospect.)
Los zapatos
means “the shoes.”
For page references, see
MEXICO
: LOS ZAPATOS,
in
OUR WORLD PLACES
NEW YORK (VIA BLACK THIRTEEN):
For page references, see
NEW YORK CITY
,
in
OUR WORLD PLACES
DIXIE PIG:
See
DIXIE PIG
,
listed separately
GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE:
For page references, see
NEW YORK CITY
,
in
OUR WORLD PLACES
FOOTBRIDGE (LaMERK INDUSTRIES):
For page references, see
NEW YORK CITY
,
in
OUR WORLD PLACES
LOT, THE (FORTY-SIXTH STREET AND SECOND AVENUE):
See
LOT, THE
,
listed separately; see also
ROSE, THE,
in
CHARACTERS
SECOND AVENUE—FORTY-SIXTH STREET TO FIFTY-FOURTH:
According to EDDIE DEAN and JAKE CHAMBERS, these eight blocks function as one large DOORWAY BETWEEN WORLDS.
For page references, see
NEW YORK CITY
,
in
OUR WORLD PLACES
TODASH HOSPITAL (ROOM NINETEEN):
V:423
TODASH TAHKEN:
The holes in reality. V:413
TODASH TURNPIKES (USA):
See
HIDDEN HIGHWAYS
,
listed separately
TOPEKA
See
KANSAS
,
in
OUR WORLD PLACES
TOWER
See
DARK TOWER
TOWER KEYSTONE
See
DARK TOWER
and
KEY WORLDS/KEYSTONE WORLDS
TOWER ROAD
UNDERSNOW
UNFOUND DOOR
See
DOORWAYS BETWEEN WORLDS
: MAGICAL DOORS: UNFOUND DOOR;
see also
DOORWAY CAVE
UNFOUND DOOR TO LAND OF MEMORY
Inside each of us there is an UNFOUND DOOR, and memory is the key which opens it. When we find that door, we find forgotten parts of ourselves.
VI:352–53, VI:362
UPLANDS
VACANT LOT
See
LOT, THE
WALTER’S MIND-DOGAN
See
DOGAN
WASTE LANDS
The Waste Lands are those desolate lands located beyond LUD. These horrible areas—too poisoned to support life as we know it but full of mutants and monsters—are man-made. It seems that they were the result of one of the GREAT OLD ONES’ wars. We already know that BLAINE, the computer mind of LUD, has access to chemical and biological weapons, but what was loosed upon the Waste Lands was worse than these. It was, Blaine assures EDDIE, even worse than a nuclear catastrophe.
See also
DRAWERS
.
III:109
(little “w”),
III:248, III:405–20
(travel through via Blaine),
IV:3, IV:13–14
(and Candleton)
WASTE LANDS EAST OF THE RIVER WHYE
**WAY STATION
The Way Station, where Roland finds JAKE, was once a stopping point for the Coach lines that ran across the MOHAINE DESERT. By the time our story takes place it has been deserted for years. The station consists of two buildings (a stable and an inn) surrounded by a fallen rail fence whose wood is so fragile that it’s rapidly thinning into desert sand. Luckily for both Jake and Roland, the station’s water pump still works. (In the 2003 version of
The Gunslinger,
we find out that this pump was made by NORTH CENTRAL POSITRONICS.) In the building’s cellar, Roland faces down the SPEAKING DEMON.
Both Jake Chambers and FATHER CALLAHAN end up in the Mohaine Desert’s Way Station after they “die” in our world. According to Roland’s longtime nemesis WALTER, this Way Station is “a little rest stop between the hoot of [our] world and the holler of the next.” When Callahan arrives in the Way Station, Walter is waiting for him. Walter gives Callahan BLACK THIRTEEN, then forces him to enter the UNFOUND DOOR. When Callahan regains consciousness, he finds himself with the MANNI of CALLA BRYN STURGIS.
I:72–81, I:83–92, I:93, I:122, II:319, III:43–46, III:47, III:48, III:59, III:60, III:62, III:91, III:106–7, III:128, III:132, III:263, IV:106, V:458–65
(460 hoot and holler),
V:470, VI:290, VI:327, VI:389, VI:391, VI:399, VII:826
CELLAR:
I:87–88
WAYDON CASTLE
See
RIVER BARONIES,
in
MID-WORLD PLACES
**WEST END OF THE WORLD
The West End of the World is an almost unreachable place. Hence the expression “Where else would I be? The West End of the World?” At the end of the 2003 version of
The Gunslinger,
we learn that the WESTERN SEA is the western edge of the world.
III:339
WESTRING
WHITE LANDS OF EMPATHICA
WIZARD’S GLASS
See
MAERLYN’S RAINBOW
,
in
CHARACTERS
WOLF GARAGE
See
DOGAN
: FEDIC DOGAN
and
CASTLE DISCORDIA
WOLF STAGING AREA
See
DOGAN
: FEDIC DOGAN
and
CASTLE DISCORDIA
CONTENTS
A Brief Note on the Use of Appendix I
Mid-World Argot, Roland’s Versions of Our Words, and Terms Used in This Concordance
Language of the Little Sisters of Eluria
High Speech (also called the “Tongue”) was the ancient, ritualized language of Mid-World. Low speech—also called the common tongue or the vulgate—was the speech of everyday interaction, but High Speech was the language of gunslingers. It was also the language of ritual and magic.
Although not confined to the court of Gilead (Sylvia Pittston of Tull and Aunt Talitha of River Crossing both speak the Tongue), it was, primarily, bound to the hierarchies and courtly codes of In-World. While we can assume that Fair-Day Riddling was conducted in low speech, and while the common tongue contained many fascinating terms and phrases, the spiked letters of High Speech carried the heart of Roland’s culture. With one notable exception (explained in the pages that follow), each word in the Tongue had multiple meanings. These meanings were so varied that they were (and are) difficult to explain to those born outside of Mid-World.
Like other sacred languages, the words and phrases of High Speech imply an entire philosophy of life, and the speaking of it was ritualized. Gunslinger apprentices were not allowed to utter its words publicly until after they had won
their guns. To do so before proving themselves in the yard behind the Great Hall was considered an affront to all that their culture held sacred. As was said earlier, High Speech was the language of gunslingers, but it was also the language used to address spirits, demons, and
dinhs.
If the glorious history of Roland’s world is now no more than the wreckage of a sunken ship, then High Speech is one of the sacred relics that washed up on the shores.
For each word or phrase listed in this appendix, I have provided at least one page reference so that you can view the relevant word, object, or phrase in the context of the Dark Tower series. My hope, in so doing, is to enrich your enjoyment of Mid-World’s diverse dialects. In instances where the word or phrase under discussion receives a lengthier description elsewhere in the
Concordance,
I direct you to the entry and section where an in-depth discussion of the subject is available. A word in all capitals within an entry indicates that word has an entire entry devoted to it within Appendix I. If a word or phrase comes from the 2003 version of
The Gunslinger
but does not appear in the 1982 edition, then I have marked that entry with a double asterisk (**).
Since in Mid-World, as in our world, dialects often share words and expressions, some terms could be placed with equal validity in more than one subsection. In such cases, I have tried to place the questionable term in the most general category. For example, if a word is used in Calla Bryn Sturgis but is also used elsewhere in Mid-World, it can be found in the “Mid-World Argot” subsection. Similarly, if a word is used by the Manni but is also related to a High Speech term, then the word will be found in the “High Speech” subsection.
If you are unsure where to find a particular word or phrase, then the following guidelines may help. For words and phrases that sound similar to ones from our world, begin in “Mid-World Argot.” If you don’t find what you’re searching for there, move to “Calla Bryn Sturgis Dialect.” Finally, try “End-World Terms.” For words and phrases that are definitely in High Speech or a similar language, begin searching in “High Speech,” then proceed to “Manni Terms.” Last of all, try “End-World Terms.” If you are searching for a hand motion or gesture which Roland uses, begin with “Mid-World Gestures.”
I apologize to those Constant Readers who would have preferred a single, straightforward alphabetical listing of all the unusual words and phrases found in the Dark Tower series. That was one organizational option, but in the end, I decided that it would be more enjoyable—both for me and for you—if I tried to capture at least a bit of Mid-World’s magic, a
glammer
cast as much by the variety of cultures we encounter there as by the story line itself.
: This scrollwork means UNFOUND. VII:739, VII:820
: This scrollwork means FOUND. VII:820
: This scrollwork means WHITE. It was Arthur Eld’s DINH mark and is found near the muzzle of Roland’s guns. VII:501