STE,PHENKING'SDenrTowrRTHE CoMPLETECoNCoRDAI\CE

REVISED AND UPDATED

BYRONIN FT]RTFIFOREWORD BY STEPHEN KING

CONTENTS

Tarot Reading

Foreword by Stephen King

About This Book

The \Xlind Through the Keyhole and the Vinds of Mid-ril7orld

-\bbreviations and Text Guide

Key

Door

Gilead Fair-Days

\tid-\7orld Moons

lntroductions: Parts One and Two

Characters, Magical Objects, Magical Forces

-\Iid-rX/orld Places and Borderland Places

Our World Places and the Multiple Americas

Portals, Magical Places, and End-World places

-\ppendix I: Mid-\7orld Dialects

-{ppendix II: A Brief History of Mid-Vorld (All-\forld-That-Was)and of Roland Deschain, Warrior of the Vhite

-\ppendix III: Mid-lVorld Rhymes, Songs, prayers, and prophecies

-\ppendix IV Mid-\forld Miscellany (Dances, Diseases, Drugs,Games, Holidays, etc.)

-{ppendix V The Tower, the Quest, and, The Eyes of the Dragon

-\ppendix VI: Political and Cultural Figures of Our \7orld Mentionedin the Dark Tower Series

-rppendix VII: Maps of Mid-World, End-\7orld, and Our World.-rependix VIII: Reading Group Guides

"i:pendix IX: Versions of the Commala Song

x

xi

xv

xvii

xxi

xxiii

xxiv

xxv

xxvii

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391

457

515

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625

63s

639

643

649

66s

679

Pn'tsoNenliltNgeb+ MaN

L&totSrrlab.^rs) eotl,

Rcsurnption

FOF

sv Srr

-. ::'ie of Roland of Gilead's sea:-::- -: 1n narure (think Hucklebern.: : .ne Path of the Beam instead

-,:rg dozens of plot nr-ists anc

- -:,r :ime passes "inside the stor'. '.':. :,rih time and direction hatt. .,:i:rnglr' call "the real rr'ori,j

: ;-.1:t-.-3 and the iast onc.-: '.',' Long t'ere the lapses ben'

:-r r: :i,rrl\-? In truth, Constant R.- :,--: a-:1. e been sir y'ears (benle..: . . ::::acle the stor1. rvas eYer hir-,:: sr;ond volume ever follo*'- : '-..-. :dirion br: Donald -\1. G:

-:.;. -r-et and barel,v readable.- - ,--,--:i',r-rirten pages of a seconc

.-. , "..','re

missing. God knos's l.- .. i :ell r'ou rvhat happens t

: :- - :: -: :tne? Yrill vou heari T:-: ; :: :-. aLl on one ler.ei. lit b.'g: : : :., ..rnd of item under rho

' :r : D\Ds. shoe s and starlon- r: :::::s )i: laok, Herbie. tl:r,':.r- ::::!;s and piCniC gear.

' . ',,, -::r:,iine the lights faiiing.----rinslr. : -1gr.gg gJr...r

' --- :-: ;.urh:ndrn front,,i:.- -:: ,.,:. rhe kind of room I ;.

' ,. . ,; a : :i: e Tl:ree , ercepr rhe:: .: --:r, :ir.: hundred pages -,r:: r -:: :-. jr: ','a nOt See tt. I g'as :i

.-::-- :nd havinq a fer.,' iie:

.. = l-nand oi r]:e .:r,:.'.^*-_ -----L:i-- -.. -. : rrLaLl r1!'!Lr:ll-: !-a:.

.' a,l 1\ rrl{td On tne -::-:- =. -;,r -. i- .,- -;. ,.-

--=-,-i..=:-h. F- F=--

ABOUT THIS BOOK

l:--; [r6eL had its first stirrings more than twenty years ago. I was fourteen, and- 'a-:.s spending the summer with my grandparents in Maine. I have always been" :sssed by books, and so that July I arrived with a stack of them. Top of ihe pile';.

'':ir The Gunslinger. No. Not yet. But it was a novel called 'sarem-'s Lot.i ;an still remember the feeling I had when I read that book. My body was

.:- :::e riny, weedy beach of Patten Pond, but the rest of me was in the Marstenr - :se. or crouched by Mark Petrie's side as he held up a glow-in-the-dark;::!> ro ward off the vampire at his window. I climbed on the Greyhound Bus:t:':rd Father callahan-my hand burned and my mouth still tasting Barlow's:-:.rd-and the two of us set off for that unknown destination of rhunderclap,: :-'unled place on the lip of End-I7orld.1

i ciosed the novel and, still caught in that dream-web, I began to wark back: -'.-* ard home. And there, in the pine woods, with my feet deep in leaf mould and:-'-_skin still smelling of pond water, I saw.myself as an aduit. I was grown-up,:::d I.was working for Stephen King. I didn't know exactly what I *as doi"g,:.;r I knew it had to do with books, and Father callahan, and with that dreadJ:-ace called Thunderclap. The vision was so vivid, so convincing, and so quickly,;er. I held on to rhe feeling of it long enough to write my firsi horror story (iti'asn't very good), but as the vision faded, I began to doubt what I had seen. I:;ied that vision, lost the story, and didn't think about either for two decades.i :_at is, until one day when I went to check my mail in the English department- i;e at the University of Maine. As I was sorting through the lrade sheets and::,-:rlos, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was Burt Hatlen, orr. o] my professors.!:::hen King needed a temporary research assistant, he said. wouldl be inter-- --_ i

iometimes, art imitates life, and sometimes life imitates art, and,sometimes the:-.':' of them blend to such a degree that we can't figure out where one ends and:-= lther begins. For months before my chat with Burt, I'd been dreaming about:'!es. moons with demon faces, and huge, imposing, smoke-colored rowers. I:-::'l think I was losing my mind, but then there was the tall, rankg ghostlike::-:.: cacing at my writing-room door. He seemed to want to get through to ouro -:-d. to need to get through to our world, and fo^o-. ,."ro.r he t"hought I

-. Be lieve it or not, the copy of 'Salem's Lot thatl had as a teenager actually mentionedl::::ierclap. I spent years wondering where that place was-it didn't sound like any city: :: $'orld. I read the book several times as an adult and never saw this reference again.; =.::ir-I asked steve whether he had deleted rhunderclap from later editions and he told:: -: *'as never there in the first place. But it should have been. How can I explain this

".:j ir-currence? I can't.

XVi ABOUTTHISBOOK

could help him. And every rime I laid out my tarot cards, my future came out

Towers.Ka is awheel, its one purpose is to turn, and so often it brings us back to iust

where we started. Twenty years had passed since I boarded that bus to Thunder-

clap, but in Roland's world, in the world of the Tower quest' tvventy.years in the

p"*, or twenty years in the future, are only just a doorway apart.I climbed back

tr, ,ir", Greyhound Bus only to find myself, as a young girl, still sitting behind

Callahan. I'd never really disembarked in the first place'

Pere Callahan waited in Calla Bryn Sturgis, on the border of Thunderclap,

and Roland had to reach him. All he needed was somebody from our world to

help crack open Steve's doorway. I knew many of Steve's other works, I loved

f"ntasy ".rd

liorror, and I had those rather sinister initials that implied I might be

good io, writing something other than academic essays. All that remained for me

Io do *", op.rr" Rol".rd's biography and read that first, all-important line. The

man in blaci fted auoss the desert, and the gunslinger folloued ' ' 'It is now 20'J.2, andl have lived in Roland's world for more than twelve years.

During that time I've collected much of the myth, history, and folklore of Mid-

\forldlJust as, when you wake up from a dream, you try to capture what you

saw during your night travels, the book that follows is my attempt to captufe my

journey *Itil not""a. My goal, when I started, was to make a doorway between

worlds. I hope that I have, at least, made a small window'

R.F.March 12,2003(revisited July 16, 2006and again, June 27, 2012)

THE WIND THRAND THE WIN

-T.nere's nothi-og like stories

i 6-arm place in a cold ll'orl,

- .: s- Dark Torver fans, I al*'alt-c-Eorid atter the seYenth, and

iiig-:.- H*rce. in 2009, when Stel-e

l:'e:: ston. I x-as delighted. At th[.v;. The ritle alone *'as inrrigtr--.:s of \tid-World are intrinsicl

- i:rs Ln Sozg of Susannah, "thE:-;'- horr-ever, that u'ind rvouldli:{--€:, tbree eras of Mid-Worldi"-, .-i"s liie.

F; 1,110. Steve had begun *': :,'are The Wind Through th,

:r.,:*-edn Vi:srd and Glass and \: ;:-imger novel-Steve had se

:;: -.e subritle would be A Norr

- ; ieauritul epigraph that he v

s-e live our short lives on o*er-nirr'. Time is the tvind thu

;;:r:'.ra1h- both the subtitie and

:-*= ilere. in this guide to all thi

-e -3:inning of this volume. an'

l*-.ugh the Kq'hole's manv ne

i"-es. rvords, and maPs' LongTl:ii's Beams has also aitered.':':';ir is fitting, since the starkt

=J.ess snows, rvhich is also rvht

To rne, The WindTbrough th,

-;c: of the Dark Tower series

i:-'r nr,Uv undersrand, a reticen*-e c.an't help but feel that he ha

:-rftrre came out

tr tr_ ----

::s back to just:;: :'rs to Thunder-

'DK- 3:arr- vears in thei;;-':- I climbed back

sr- ;:-r sining behind

'!hrr:r: ..f Thunderclap,ir ::'3 our world toi -r=€: n-orks, I loved

r lni: -:pLied I might beC -"":;emained for me

i,L.l* -:artant line. The

ln*:r: =-:ur rwelve years.

a:c :olklore of Mid-ri :: -prure what you

Elr n*:=:r! to capture myrtEK r ;. ..iuro1.wd.1' between

,Litrlryr:r :-- 1003

Iar 16,2006nu. rs: -- Jtne27,2012)

THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLEAND THE WINDS OF MID-WORLD

"There's nothing like stories on a windy night when folks have founda warm place in a cold world."

Roland DeschainTbe VlindThrough the Keyhole,34

--<e all Dark Tower fans, I always hoped that Stephen King would return to\[:d-'World after the seventh, and seemingly final,installment of the Dark Tower-ai:. Hence, in2009, when Steve told me that he had another idea for a Dark::rver story I was delighted. At that point, the novel had the working title Blackl-;':J. The title alone was intriguing, since as every Tower iunkie knows, then--:ds of Mid-Vorld are intrinsically linked to s4i King's artistic inspiration. As-: >a\-s tn Song of Susannah, "the wind blows and the story comes." ln BlackT:ri. however, that wind would have special significance, since it linked threei:--,:--es. three eras of Mid-\World history, and two vastly different periods in]':,a:rd's life.

Bi' 2010, Steve had begun writing in earnest. The title, Black'Wind, had

-;ome The Wind Througb the Keyhole, and the story was firmly placed:'.:.\'een 'Wizard and Glass and Wolues of the Calla. Since it wasn't technically:. -rsLinger novel-Steve had set out instead to write a fairy tale-he thought-;.:.: rhe subtitle would be A Nouel of Mid-\Yorld. In those early days, Steve sent-.= a beautiful epigraph that he wanted to place at the beginning of the book:

\\-e live our short lives on one side of the door; on the other is all oferernity. Time is the wind that blows through the keyhole.

:-"'"-rually both the subtitle and the epigram were cut, but I wanted to record--.:: here, in this guide to all things Mid-rWorld. Hence, the epigram appears at:-: :'egirrning of this volume, and the old title is here too, along with The Windl-,.,,ugh the Keyhole's many new characters, magical objects, fantastic places,:.-:i:es. .,vords, and maps. Longtime readers will notice that my map of Mid-lf:':id's Beams has also altered. The Lion-Eagle Beam now runs north to south,';''::ch is fitting, since the starkblasts of North'rd Barony begin in the land of::j.ess snows, which is also where Aslan, Guardian of Gilead's Beam, resides.

To me, The WindThrowgh the Keyhole is a very special novel. Throughout so:;;h of rhe Dark Tower series Roland remains aloof: a character we love but::':'r rullv understand, a reticent loner whose battle scars are so numerous thata.e can'r help but feel that he has a thick layer of protective scar tissue over his

f

IXviii THE WIND THROT]GH THE KEYHOLE AND THE WINDS OF MID-WORLD

heart. Yet in The Wind Throwgh the Keyhole we not only see the world throughRoland's eyes, but we gain a sense of how Roland sees himself. In both Wizardand Glass and The Wind Througb the Keybole, Roland's adventures with hisAmerican ka-tet serve as frame stories for tales about Roland's younger days.But while in Wizard and Glass Roland's autobiographical adventure is recountedin the third person by an unseen narrator, in The Wind Through the Keyhole,Roland tells his story in his own voice. In this novel, Roland is not just a younggunslinger-prodigy with dazzlingly quick reflexes and a precociously subtlesense of battle strategy. He is a young man struggling to make sense of the deci-sions he has made in his life, and to cope with the terrible consequences of hisactions. Over the course of the novel, he comes closer to making peace betweenhis conflicting emotions and allegiances. Somehow, his rigid sense of duty to theway of the gun and his resulting rage against Gabrielle Deschain for betrayingher husband and her Barony, must sit beside the profound but confusing grief hefeels over the accidental shooting of his mother.

Just as in'Wizard and Glass, Roland's encounter with a thinny prompts himto tell his American ka-tet about his coming-of-age test and the trials he faced inHambry soon after he won his guns, so in The Wind Throwgh the Keyhole, thestarkblast which sweeps along the Path of the Beam inspires Roland to recounttwo interlinked tales. All three narratives-the frame story of Roland's tettraveling along the path of the Beam, the autobiographical adventure in whichRoland and his ka-mate Jamie DeCurry hunt for the skin-man of Debaria, andthe folktale about Tim Ross, who discovered that his father had been murderedby his jealous best friend, are all linked by the sound of Mid-'World's winds. Butto Roland, the ferocious starkblast is not merely a catalyst for talespinning. Thatpowerful storm is intrinsically bound to his memory of his mother and to hisguilt over her death.

A1l that Roland knows about starkblasts-from the unseasonable warmththat precedes them to the erratic behavior of bumblers that warns farmers ofimpending disaster-was passed on to him by Gabrielle. Hence it is not surpris-ing that, at the beginning of the novel, everything that Roland knows aboutstarkblasts has been suppressed, just as his grief and guilt over his matricidehas been suppressed. It is not until the ferryman Bix points out the approachingstorm's many warning signs that the door of memory opens and Roland recallsboth the autobiographical tale of "The Skin-Man," which took place shortlyafter Gabrielle's passing, and "The Wind Through the Keyhole," the folktalewhich his mother often read to him in the tower bedroom of his childhood.

From the outset of "The Skin-Man," we know that fifteen-year-old Roland isstruggling with an overwhelming grief. Though he has not been back from Ham-bry for very long, Roland has appointed himself as nurse to his old teacher Cort.Roland claims that he nurses Cort out of respect (after all, Cort never recoveredfrom Roland's coming-of-age battle against him), but his father suspects a darkermotivation. Roland is searching for absolution for his accidental murder of hismother. In order to remove Roland from the unhealthy atmosphere of Gilead,and to try to get the boy to expiate his sense of sin in a more fitting manner, Ste-ven Deschain sends Roland and his ka-mate Jamie DeCurry to Debaria, so thatthe boys can track down the bloodthirsty skin-man who has been terrorizingthat western barony.

*:-.j * \-lr ;-l0i6ff,'-Hf

' '-: i. :- ':l::-.:. R:.-::-:-:- . -.-= :.. -lli: :..-il-=l:ii

- :-: --,:: - -: -----a >ci il-; l;-: * : -: .1 1: ,:.-::::i. : -: ::--: ::-::::. :-, .:-l:.:: '- i

---- - :-::: -:- :---;i ;'.\- r-: :;:.:--' -;:-: .1i::: -:.--. E.C:i.:-:e::j": :f,...:r : ;:-= -,r ;:-C be. bUt a ',

i:,i. -1; -::::l:ai-ii -Or Rt]tani

-:r :-.Li. ::-f -t . ':- - --'- : - -: ---:. : ::: ..: -f.jiftSS ::.

- -. ; I -:::::. ROiand muSl ,.

--- - - -:Lii-::;trflO;elJ:.t:.;- : --:-\ rn+l- r -"atlng \\'1::-

' - :- li:---ii ::: :lore hUm-rn. '-

.-: ". --1i--..:lli.i:. RO.anJ ie;:l : ::.::r>:--=::g li:trer is b'r' secrl]i- - : ::::. ::: :i:n-lT-an in :lS :L'::-::':::: r:,:.:,j.'S k;-mafe . Jamre f,::.- : -: :- lsr )ouilg Bill in rhis r.,

' : :: :,j'. = i,:,ne nimself. even ri hr: -: -,- -: ::r:ige. \ot b'ecause I'.] ,

: ': :.:::s. I rr-as Fris son. eirher. -r

- - : ri, :.s ,:so his: co1d."

--\.: ::'!' general. Roland-tire-ei. ::.:- .-:;::i;ed. But the n-av he dt: t -: rlish. Though he rvas the r:: - -J- -:s ,:mle more than an adoii1-:-:;:! ,:,f Hambn. Roland does r:{ -, ::r:: :las made Ster-en DeSCha;:.":,- -:. r:n lead the huat for Det a-:.,-: : -i-blooded. just Lke the bes;

::: je.prte rhe coldness requrri::: :.iil'e his orr'n humarun-. Alth: - ::-lrmze thar risk. He takes rh:-,-Jrnq in the tolvn-and locks r

=-:i :o anack Bill-v. then Rolanci *':-- ;;11. listening to the ivailing of::- scon' of another young bor'-l:-:.agirs in order to bring his farh.r;:s of lorv birth, but because of i::r became the legendan-hero. Ti-:ui: to screw up his courage an;:e is Tim Stoutheart.

Ir manv ways, The \Yind Tl:rc,:ieal n.ith grief. All of the r-oung I

Ross-are forced to come ro rermnovel is not just about grief, ir is a

r4D!*'ORID

G -'ts *-orld throughm6 - L'l both VlizardLvtL\ ff taqtu

t;retrrures with hisf,nrmrJ; r-ounger days.

is recountedll$r-:cEl the Keyhole,

rs ror lust a youngn tr3:Niously subtle

rirryr. j€lse of the deci_::nsequences of his

1*@.- p€ace between;-*.e of duty to the

a"l for betrayingmr;ootusing grief he

r:=_ar prompts him::t* 61215 he faced inry rle Keyhole, the

R.,cland to recountmtfT of Roland's /e/

icl-ennue in which': of Debaria, and

-d been murderedt&+Eorld's winds. But

lr ralespinning. ThatG ]llltrq 361hsr and to his

mseasonable warmth-rri s?rns farmers of!ie=;-e it is not surpris,

'tritr R--iand knows aboutsrdr orer his matricide'1r'l'-! :,".1i rhe approaching

ml=ls and Roland recalls: s'm{n rook place shortlym iisrhole." the folktale

:f his childhood.''r!r1r,F€!-r-ear-old Roland isMrr f,een back from Ham-

:r nrs old teacher Cort.;iL Con never recovered

em *."tE1 suspects a darkerb .s;,iental murder of his

:.nosphere of Gilead,E Er,-.r€ fitting manner, Ste-

fu-;- ro Debaria, so thatu=r has been terrorizing

THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE AND THE WINDS OF MID-WORID xix

On the way to Debaria, Roland and Jamie stop at Serenity, the women'sretreat where Roland's mother stayed after her betrayal of her husband and hercity. There they not only see the terrible wounds inflicted upon one of the skin-man's few surviving victims, but they meet the retreat's prioress, the flamboyantbut warm giantess, Everlynne of Serenity. Even this early in the tale, Rolandbegins to question the view of reality imparted to him by his father and the othergunslingers. After all, Everlynne is not the man-hating vixen that he has beenled to believe she would be, but a vivacious, brave, and welcoming woman whomaintained her respect for Roland's dead mother despite her crimes. In fact, shecalls our young gunslinger son-of-Gabrielle rather than son-of-Steuen, which isthe more usual form of address in patriarchal Mid-World.

Once in Debaria, Roland must once again face the division between his mindand his heart. In order to catch the skin-man, he must play the role of adult gun-slinger. This means operating with the intellect and instincts of a hunter, thoughit goes against the more humane instincts of the boy. Faced with the horrors ofthe skin-man's attacks, Roland decides that the only way he will be able to catchthe shapeshifting killer is by setting a trap, baited with the only living person tohave seen the skin-man in his human form-an eleven-year-old boy named BillStreeter. Roland's ka-mate,Jamie DeCurry, is very uncomfortable with Roland'sdecision to use Young Bill in this way. As Roland says, "It was a thing [Jamie]'dnever have done himself, even if he'd though of it. \7hich is why my father hadput me in charge. Not because I'd done well in Mejis-I hadn't, not really-andnot because I was his son, either. Although in a way, I suppose that was it. Mymind was like his: cold."

Like any general, Roland-the-gunslinger knows that in war, the innocent areohen sacrificed. But the way he describes the reason for his position of leader-ship is harsh. Though he was the youngest gunslinger ever to win his guns, andthough as little more than an adolescent, he had defeated the brutal Big CoffinHunters of Hambry, Roland does not think it is his bravery or his heroism or hisskill that has made Steven Deschain put him in charge of this mission. Gilead'sJinb let him lead the hunt for Debaria's skin-man because Roland is cold-mindedand cold-blooded, just like the best of the tet of the gun.

But despite the coldness required by his calling, the young Roland tries tokeep alive his own humanity. Although Roland puts Young Bill at risk, he triesro minimize that risk. He takes the boy to Debaria's jail-the most defendablebuilding in the town-and locks the two of them in together. (If the skin-manEries to attack Billy, then Roland will defend the boy with his life.) \fhile in thatiail cell, listening to the wailing of the simoom outside, Roland tells Young Billche story of another young boy-Tim Ross-who like Billy had to face terribleJangers in order to bring his father's killer to justice. Like Bill Streerer, Tim Rossrras of low birth, but because of his bravery he not only became a gunslinger,but became the legendary hero, Tim Stoutheart. It is little wonder then, that inorder to screw up his courage and face the skin-man, Young Bill pretends that:e is Tim Stoutheart.

ln many ways, The Wind Throwgh the Keyhole is an exploration of how wedeal with grief. All of the young protagonists-Roland, Bill Streeter, and TimRoss-are forced to come to terms with the violent death of a parent. But the:lorel is not just about grief, it is also about how we react to the unfair vicissi-

XX THE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE AND THE wlNDS OF MID-WORID

tudes of life. Roland has committed a crime, but he must come to accept that the

death of his mother was an accident. Bill Streeter's father was brutally murdered

by a shapeshifter who was not a mindless beast, but a human being who took

some form of pleasure from his kills" Bill cannot bring his father back to life,

but by identifying the killer he can bring some form of closure to the horrors

he has faced, and he can also help to prevent future massacres. Similarly, Tim

Ross discovers that his father-whom he has been told was incinerated by adragon-was in truth slaughtered by his partner and best friend, Bern Kells, who

coveted Tim's mother. Tim cannot wind back time any more than he can untie

the knot that binds his mother to her violent and drunken new husband, but he

can expose his stepfather's crime and also minimize the impact that Kells has on

his own, and his mother's, life.As well as the personal traumas that Roland, Bill, and Tim must face, there

are the greater social injustices that echo throughout the three tales. On his way

to Debaiia, Roland is made uncomfortably aware of how successful his mother's

lover, Marten Broadcloak, has been in turning the people of Mid-\forld against

the gunslingers. (In Debaria, too many people have secretly given their allegiance

to the mad harrier, John Farson.) As the adult Roland of the frame story knows'

Farson's destiny is to bring about Mid-World's second destruction. In Tim

Ross's world, the greedy Covenant Man (who is but another face of Roland's

eternal enemy, Marten Broadcloak/lfalter O'Dim) has poisoned the reputation

of Gilead by squeezing as much tax as possible out of the people of Tree. Even

in the land of iairytale, people whisper that Gilead's taxes are unfair, and that

the people's covenant with the Eld has been paid a dozen times over' in blood as

*el[ asiiluer. As when he is in his Broadcloak disguise, the Covenanter knows

full well that he is destroying the fabric of Mid-rVorld societ5 but this is exactly

what he wants to do. The wastelands that Roland and his American tet tfavetse

are as much the fault of O'Dim as they are the fault of Mid-World's Old People.

Although the emotions explored inThe'WindTbrough the Keyhole arc dark

ones, the novel's closure is redemptive. Before Roland leaves Debaria, Everlynne

of Serenity gives him a note penned by Gabrielle before she left the women's

retreat. Though the letter is as disjointed and distraught as the mind of the

woman who had written it, Gabrielle tells her son that she knew she was des-

tined to die by his hand, but returned to Gilead anyway.Although Gabrielle has

akeady entered the clearing at the end of the path, from beyond the grave she

offers her son absolution. The final words of her letter, written in High Speech,

say, I forgiue you euerytbing. Can you forgiue me? At the end of the novel, Steven

King states that the two most beautiful words in any language ate I forgiue. Imust say, I agree. Unless we are able to open our hearts and forgive others' we

can never learn to forgive ourselves.For all of us who have waited so long for another tale about our favorite wan-

dering gunslinger,The WindThrowgb the Keyhole is a gift. Thank you, Steve. And

thank you, my fellow Constant Readers, for perusing yet another version of my

Concordance, this massive book which I regard as my travel log for Mid-\7orld.

Long days and pleasant nights, and may the sun never fall in your eyes.

Robin FurthAugust 6,20L2

ABBREVIATION

.\BBREVIATIONS USED FOI

-r King, Stephen. The Gunslingedir-ision of Hodder & Stough

: The Drawing of the Three ,1

dir-ision of Hodder & Stough- : The Waste Lands @ 1991. ',L

Hodder & Stoughton,l99T a

- '': Vizard and Glass @ 1.997. rlHodder & Stoughton,1997 a-''': Volues of the Calla @ 2003. i

Hodder Headline,2003)-.1: Song of Susannah @ 2004. \L

Hodder Headline, 2004)",I: Tbe DarkTouer O 2004. 1L

Hodder Headline, 2004)E: 'The Little Sisters of Eluria'.

New English Library, a divisiIr: The'Wind Through tbe Ke1'h<

a division of Hodder Headlin

SECONDARY T

i'-rng, Stephen, Bag of Bones @ 199of Hodder 6c Stoughton, 199

)esperation @ 1996. (London, NeStoughton, 1997)

Tl:e Eyes of the Dragon @ 1.988 t':

Brown and Company, 1.992',insomnia @ 1,994. (London, Neri'

Stoughton, 1995)It A 1996. (London, New English .

1997)'Low Men in Yellow Coats.' Heart:

Library, a division of Hodder'The Mist'. Skeleton Creu., @ 1985.

Brown and Company, 199 3lThe Regulators (Stephen King rn'rit

New English LibrarS a divisir

STEPHENKING'S

THE

De.mTovvrRTHE COvTPLETECoN6gRpAINCE

INTRODUCTION PART ONEVOLUMES I-N

ROLAND, THE TOWER,AND THE QUEST

Spoiler's'Warning: Read this essay only after you haue read tbe firstfowr books of Roland's saga. Otherwise, you'll get more than aglimpse of what is to come . . .

To any reader of the Dark Tower series, Roland Deschain is an instantly recog-:izable character. As I write this, I see him in my mind's eye, striding across the;ellowing grasses of the River Barony savannah, his black hair threaded with:rav. his body tall and lanky, his holster and gun belt strapped to his hips. Only:,ae of those fabled sandalwood-handled six-shooters is with him; it rests against:is left thigh. The other is back at camp, secure in the docker's clutch strapped:,r Eddie Dean's side. As I stare, Roland turns his head and regards me pragmati--allv. If you need to talk to me, he says, then come. Time may be a face on the-,'.'ater, but in Roland's world, water is scarce.

Roland watches as I pass through the doorway of the page. His pale blue eyes::all-v are like those of a bombardier, both cool and assessing. By necessity, this,-=eting will be brief. I'm anorher one of Roland's secrets, and he thinks it better: - Keep me that way. He's not certain what level of the Tower I come from, but--.= knows one thing. I am mapping his travels.

Finding some shade, Roland hunkers. I hand him one of the rolling papers, "'': brought, and he accepts it silently. Unlacing the leather thongs of his travel-i:i purse, he removes his tobacco poke and rolls a smoke. Despite the missing:-::rrs on his right hand, he works the paper dexterously, licking the gummed

'.:: rvith a grimace. He strikes a match against the seam of his jeans and lights-,' ;igarette. For a moment his face is illuminated with an eerie glow that makes=,. :eatures look drawn and more than a little haggard. He has a few days'worth: .:-.:bble on his cheeks, and his lips are chapped. Once again I try to show.,'.' ihis concordance, but he waves rhe bound manuscript away as he exhales: :,:ud of smoke. As always, he thinks that my constanr revisions waste paper.:o.:Jes, he's only interested in the maps. But today I've brought a short piece,: : :his he has agreed to hear. It's my interpretation of his epic journey. Taking:r :rer deep drag, Roland rolls his hand in that gesture which means only one:-,- :. in any world. Get on with it. So I clear my throat and (rather nervously)

2 INTRODUCTION PART ONE: VOIUMCS I_IV

ROLAND, THE TO\rER, AND THE QUEST

Roland Deschain is Mid-'World's final gunslinger. Like a knight from the Arthu-rian legends of our world, Roland is on a quest. His "grail" is the Dark Tower,the linchpin of the time/space continuum, and his goal is to climb to its very topand question the god or demon who resides there. Roland's world is unraveling.The Beams that maintain the proper alignment of time, space, size and dimensionare breaking down and the Tower itself is foundering. This structural instabilityaffects all worlds, but in Roland's, the symptoms are dramatic. As the fabric ofreality wears away, thinnies form and spread. These squalling mist bogs swal-low all those that stumble into them, letting their captives fall into the darkno-places between worlds. As the landscape stretches, directions drift. V/hat iswest today may be southwest tomorrow and southeast the day after. A goal thatlay only fifty miles away can suddenly become a hundred, or even a thousand,miles distant.

As the direct descendant of Arthur Eld, King of All-Vorld-that-was, and as

Mid-World's last dinb, Roland must rescue his land from annihilation. But histask is gargantuan. He must find a way to safeguard the framework, the loom,upon which the interpenetrating realities are woven. But to do so-in order toshore up that central Tower and the Beams which radiate out from it-he mustfind his way across a landscape so fragmented that neither map nor memory canhelp him pinpoint his destination. In fact, Roland does not even know where theTower stands. He realizes that he must head toward a place called End-World,but where does that land lie? How can he find it? During the early stages ofhis journey, Roland the warrior chooses the path of the ascetic. Believing hecan only reach his goal as a solitary traveler, he sacrifices all human relation-ships, even when it means betrayal, because he thinks such sacrifice will speedhim along his way. Comrades and lovers are left behind like abandoned waterskins.

Roland believes that to climb the Tower he must have no ties holding him toMid-Iforld. He must be isolated, self-sufficient, cut off from the nurturing tidesof relationship. Thinking in terms of conquest and battle, Roland follows theduplicitous Walter across the deserts of Mid-\forld, believing that this enemywill eventually lead him to his goal. SimilarlS as a boy, he followed the pathset for him by Maerlyn's Grapefruit, a magic ball whose evil, distorting visionstricked him into first sacrificing his lover, Susan Delgado, and then murderinghis own mother.

'What Roland doesn't at first realize is that, like any young knight, he isbeing tested. The initial path he chooses is a false start, no more than a glammerthrown by the enemies who want to thwart him. \flhat their treachery exposesis that the young Roland is driven by ambition, personal glory, and revenge as

much as he is by a desire to fulfill his destiny as the last warrior of the \X/hite. Bytempting him to betray all that a knight should hold sacred, Roland's enemiesensure that Roland will repeat the mistakes of his fathers and either abandonhis quest as hopeless or become lost in the deserts and golgothas of Mid-\forldwhich, in the end, but mirror the dry wreckage of his heart.

Roland, the young warrior, does not understand the ultimate nature of hisquest. He does not realize that, as the trickster 'Walter

says in the golgotha, he

already stands so close to the Towerof his own preconceptions, his inherithis fate, and the fate of Mid-'World, a

Roland's story is not iust an advenHis pilgrimage is intrinsically linked rE-as an important influence upon th(for a famous poem by T. S. Eliot. Thaits incarnation in the Dark Tower serone that dates back to the time whenand queens were appointed by God.rhe king is the body of the land, and tweli-being of the other. If the king is s

to ruin. To cure the land, you must firr the other is in balance.

As above, so below. The disease ofand they both progress according to tland devastates the land, what threatesmbility of the interpenetrating worlcking. All are affected by the same illneirs underlying cause. And this is the tr

.We all know that as the Beams sna'

-enr on the human plane? What malai:ure? What disease affects Roland, then-orld?

High Speech, the tongue of gunslint-ords are difficult to define because':nultiple meanings which refer, simul:o the web that loins the interactingrumanity's past and future movement-ess. They all reflect both individual ar

Ka, we knoq resembles a wheel. Irlran's in The Waste Lands, a wheeland the Portals in and out of Mid-Wo:s the Tower, the spokes are the Beams:he Portals' sentries. Some Guardiansers. like the Bear Guardian Shardik, a:

:ire Beams, the Beams serve the Tower:-nited. And perhaps these Beams wor;harges, the one balancing the other. -

,nd the Bear-the opposite end of th,:iace, like light and darkness. That is.

{lthough it would be difficult to m:'rc big-we can) at least, map the for<: miniature of the larger. As dinh of Llsits at the center of the wheel. The Gr:anions Jake, Susannah, Eddie, and O

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H. i,--EST

1,rc a s:rght from the Arthu-Su 'gr- is the Dark Tower,

* :: ;iimb to its very toptcua:c'' rvorld is unraveling,

;;;;e. size and dimensionl:'s sm:qtural instability

m .=-:---lric. As the fabric ofhs x-:,ng mist bogs swal-&Er ::er:tes fall into the dark

i- :::.dons drift. \7hat rs

an:r$"t =: dav after. A goal thate nlnc:d- or even a thousand,

nr "L*-Korld-that-was, and as

,m*: ::."r annihilation. But his: --:: :ramework, the loom,

ilrirfrd!:1, i,:: :o do so-in order to:3:i:. out from it-he mustTrmf: map nor memory can

$.:rer :rn: even know where themlliir: ; :iace called End-World,ilu a: )::lng the early stages of

nryt :: *ie ascetic. Believing he

u ;n::ices all human relation-t :rErrrrii such sacrifice will speedum :e::l like abandoned water

ulnff : ';e no ties holding him toj:m :: Irom the nurturing tides

"''r*- :aille. Roland follows theW:r.c- :'eiieving that this enemy

r$ ;. af,\-. he followed the pathnar.Jl" "n:ose er-il, distorting visions

-t-;rdo. and then murdering

"rulitr- -:<i anv young knight, he is

um- T:ar their treachery exposes;u* -:-'onal glory, and revenge as

is :r. ; rr rvarrior of the \White. By: ;,:,ti sacred, Roland's enemies

:r :s iathers and either abandonrp{.**a ;:rd golgothas of Mid-\forld

:i:.is heart.rterHc.=e rhe ultimate nature of his

'l[-airer says in the golgotha, he

INTRODUCTION PART ONE: Volumes I-tV 3

:iready stands so close to the Tower that worlds turn about his head.1 Because-'i his own preconceptions, his inherited worldview, he does not understand that

Roland's story is not just an adventure tale; it is one with symbolic meaning.i{is pilgrimage is intrinsically linked to a legend from our world, a legend which-n'as an important influence upon the Modernists and which formed the basisirr a famous poem by T. s. Eliot. That legend is the story of the waste Land. In,:s incarnation in the Dark Tower series, this legend is bound to another belief,- le that dates back to the time when men and women thought that their kings

'nd queens were appointed by God. According to this worldview, the body of

::e king is the body of the land, and the well-being of one is indivisible from the'r:il-being of the other. If the king is sick, in body or in mind, then the land falls:: ruin. To cure the land, you must first cure the king. The one will only flourish,: :he other is in balance.

^\s above, so below. The disease of the larger is the same as that of the smaller,-:::d they both progress according to the same principle. To understand what dries::d devastates the land, what threatens the very fabric of the universe and the!:-:Siiiry of the interpenetrating worlds, one must also understand what ails the,,-::e. All are affected by the same illness, but to cure this illness we must discover,:. rnderlying cause. And this is the true purpose of Roland,s journey.

\.-e all know that as the Beams snap, the Tower falters. But what is its equiva-.:rr on the human plane? \fhat malaise weakens the bonds of Mid-'World,s cul-::::? vhat disease affects Roland, the foremost representative of his fragmenting-.a :,rld?

High Speech, the tongue of gunslingers, is a subtle and cornplex language. Its;r"-:,rds are difficult to define because they are so full of nuance. Each word has:-;ltiple meanings which refer, simultaneouslS to ordinary human interaction,:- :he web that joins the interacting individuals, and to the greater pattern of---::nanity's past and future movements. No human interaction, then, is meaning-,='s. They all reflect both individu aI and cultural ka.

(a, we know, resembles a wheel. In fact, it looks much like the wheel Roland:ran's in The waste Lands, a wheel meant to represent the Tower, the Beams,:nd the Portals in and out of Mid-\forld. In Roland's map, the hub of the wheel:' the Tower, the spokes are the Beams, and the rivets are the Guardians, who are:ie Portals' sentries. Some Guardians, like the Turtle, are protective, while oth-::s. iike the Bear Guardian shardik, are downright dangerous. But they all serve:re Beams, the Beams serve the Tower, and the Tower is what keeps the universe-::rted. And perhaps these Beams work like Batteries, with positive and negative::rarges, the one balancing the other. That would explain why the Turtle is kind:rd the Bear-the opposite end of the Beam-is negative. Even polarity has its:"ace, like light and darkness.'rhat is, as long as the whole ,.-uin, in balance.

-\lthough it would be difficult to map the wheel of ka inthis way-it is much: -ro big-we can) at least, map the forces of ka-tet, remembering that the small is: :riiniature of the larger. As dinh of his ka-tet and as dinb of Mid-vorld, Roland.:rs at the center of the wheel. The Guardians of his present ka-tet are his com-::nions Jake, Susannah, Eddie, and Oy. The sorcerer \falter-who plays a large

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