by Bev Vincent
The Beams have been flowing so long that they’ve worn grooves in reality. Everything around them indicates their presence, from the cloud formations in the sky to the herringbone patterns in vegetation on the ground. People traveling along one of the Great Roads that follow the Beams specify their location by naming the Beam they are on and the one toward which they are headed. If someone heads toward the Tower from the Turtle portal, they are said to be on the Beam of the Turtle (Maturin), Way of the Bear (also known as Shardik), whereas someone starting from the opposite side would be on the Beam of the Bear, Way of the Turtle.
As Roland understands it, beyond the ring of portals lies the Prim, the soup of creation that is the source of magic. Beyond that is the todash space that separates one world from the next. This is reminiscent of our concept of the Earth when people believed that if you sailed far enough you would fall off the edge of the world. Clearly there are gaps in Roland’s knowledge. He, Eddie and Susannah find one of the Portals of the Beam, and it is sixty miles inland from the Western Sea. At no point in his travels does he encounter the Prim or the end of the universe. Perhaps Mid-World looked like a disc in the days after creation, or perhaps that story was just created to educate children.
The concept of All-World as a disc manifests itself in some descriptions. Distances are measured in wheels, which have arcs as subunits. In geometry, arcs are segments of circles. Certain regions are known as arcs. The more remote Baronies are in the Outer Arc, whereas Gilead is in the Inner Arc. The Arc of the Callas is the fertile crescent along the River Whye, also known as the Arc o’ Borderlands. The Dogans are numbered based on arcs as well. The Fedic Dogan is the Arc 16 Experimental Station. People even talk about the arc of time. The Dogan near Calla Bryn Sturgis is Arc Quadrant Outpost 16 and North Forest Kinnock Dogan is in Bend Quadrant. A quadrant is a quarter of a circle.
Over the course of Roland’s journeys, we are exposed to only one section of Mid-World—that which lies along Shardik’s Beam, which runs northwest from the Dark Tower, and that which lies north along Aslan’s Beam. Nothing is known of what exists east, west or south of the Dark Tower. It can’t be said for certain which of the two Beams in the northwestern quadrant is the Path of the Bear, but one might assume it is the one that lies closest to Aslan’s Beam. That would make them the ones that end at XI and XII respectively on a clock face.
The region about which we know the most is that which lies along Shardik’s Beam. Starting at the Dark Tower and working outward (northwest), one would follow Tower Road to Stuttering Bill’s outpost, to Westring (home of Dandelo), the White Lands of Empathica, Le Casse Roi Russe (slightly off the Beam), and the carriage road leading to Castle Discordia and Fedic. Beyond Fedic is Thunderclap, where Algul Siento is located. Crossing the Devar-Tete Whye, one would reach the Callas and then the forest that marks the boundary between End-World and Mid-World, including the town of Gook near the western branch of the Whye, eventually ending up in Topeka. The geographic region known as Mid-World is roughly eight thousand miles across, from Topeka (via Dasherville, the Falls of the Hounds, Rilea and Candleton) to Lud and River Crossing at the River Send, near the beginning of In-World. From there it’s a straight shot past the Speaking Circle where Jake crossed over to Shardik’s Portal and the Western Sea beyond.
The Arc of the Callas runs roughly six thousand miles north and south along the Whye River. Four thousand miles south of Calla Bryn Sturgis is the Southern Sea. The Callas grow smaller to the north until you reach the lands where the snow falls. Aslan, the Guardian of the Beam that runs north from the Dark Tower, also lives in a land of snow.
Where is Gilead relative to this? The Great Hall of Gilead lies along the Eagle-Lion Beam, which runs north/south, according to The Wind Through the Keyhole, though where it is on that Beam is never specified. Tree Village is at the farthest northern edge of the North’rd Barony. Beyond that is the Endless Forest containing Fagonard Swamp. The forest is interrupted by the Great Canyon, which is at least a hundred miles across. North Forest Kinnock, at the edge of this chasm, was once known as the Gateway of Out-World.
From the perspective of the descendants of Arthur Eld, Gilead is the center of the world. There are East’rd and North’rd and West’rd and Southern Baronies, but these directions are all relative to New Canaan, not to the Dark Tower, the true center of All-World. Mejis is roughly five hundred miles east of Gilead—thousands of miles from Tree Village—and Garlan, where failed gunslingers are sent, is some distance to the west. The Western Line of the railway once ran from Gilead all the way to the Mohaine Desert, although it now ends at Debaria. Jericho Hill is five hundred miles north of Mejis. To the east is the Salt, the ocean that becomes the Clean Sea next to Hambry.
Roland’s long journey from Gilead takes him to Pricetown and Tull, where there are signs in the sky that Shardik’s Beam is in the vicinity, though Roland doesn’t notice. He parallels the Beam’s course southeast across the Mohaine Desert to the mountains and goes west to the sea. He, Eddie and Susannah follow the beach north and then move inland through the Great West Woods until they reach Shardik’s Portal. That means that, from the time Roland leaves Pricetown until he reaches the Portal of the Bear, he goes in a clockwise loop, ending up in the woods slightly north or northeast of Pricetown. That also means he probably crossed Shardik’s Beam at some earlier point. Once he, Eddie and Susannah set off down the Path of the Beam, they are paralleling Roland’s trek across the desert.
What exists in the other directions outside of this narrow slice of Mid-World? Did other great civilizations grow and die along the Path of the Turtle on the far side of the Dark Tower from Gilead, or is everything else a wasteland? The books supply no answers to these questions. Future generations of explorers have a grand adventure ahead of them as they map out the remaining eighty-five percent of Mid-World.
NOTES CONCERNING THE MAP OF MID-WORLD
This map assembles the known geography of Mid-World. Few distances are known, so the scale is arbitrary and probably wildly different in different parts of the map.
The biggest problem is this: if there is a Beam that goes due north, there cannot be a Beam that goes southwest. Since the Beams are arranged like the hours on a clock, that means there are two in the northwest quadrant. One runs from the eleven o’clock position south-southeast toward the Dark Tower, and the other runs from the ten o’clock position east-southeast.
For a long time, the relative placement of Gilead was unknown, but in The Wind Through the Keyhole we learn that Tree is on or near the Beam of the Lion that ends in the north, and that Tree is north of Gilead.
After Roland saves the Beams, he believes that Shardik’s Beam has snapped into an eastward direction, which might lead one to assume it was the one that begins in the ten o’clock position. However, we also learn that the Western Rail Line used to run from Gilead through Debaria all the way to the Mohaine Desert. This is possible only if the Mohaine, which is south of Shardik’s Beam, is relatively far north. Closer to eleven o’clock than ten o’clock, in other words. This also means that Roland crossed only one Path of the Beam before reaching Tull, and not two. How he ended up near the Western Sea without reaching it before he visited Pricetown is another mystery.
There are other issues. According to Roland, the Western Sea used to be only a thousand miles from Gilead. We have only his word on this point, and there’s a lot about Mid-World that he doesn’t know. The distance from Lud to Topeka is around eight thousand miles, and this is only a segment of Shardik’s Beam. Mid-World has expanded a great deal if both pieces of data are accepted as fact.
We also know that the Arc of the Callas extends all the way to the region where the snow falls. That means Roland must have crossed it at some point. Perhaps the Callas are widely spaced and he went between them.
Garlan’s position on this map is arbitrary. It is to the west of Gilead and Debaria. But how far? No one knows. Presumably not near the Callas.
Here’s the bottom line:
if you ever find yourself in Mid-World, you probably shouldn’t stake your life on this map, even if directions and distances are no longer drifting.
MID-WORLD PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS
This section of the glossary includes all significant people, places and things from Mid-World. Characters mentioned only in passing or not by name are omitted. The numbers and letters after each entry indicate the books in which the person, place or thing is mentioned. The numbers 1–7 represent the seven main Dark Tower books. L stands for “The Little Sisters of Eluria,” 4.5 represents The Wind Through the Keyhole, and M means the Marvel graphic novels. Names in square brackets indicate situations where a subject’s name changes because of a continuity error.
PEOPLE
ADAMS, DIEGO (5)
A rancher in Calla Bryn Sturgis. His wife, Sarey, is one of the Sisters of Oriza.
ADAMS, SAREY (5)
One of the Sisters of Oriza. A cheery, jolly woman, fat but light on her feet. Brave as a lion and good with the plate, but lacks the ferocity of some of the other women. Roland puts her in charge of hiding the twins when the Wolves come.
AFFILIATION BRATS (4, M)
Name applied to Roland, Cuthbert and Alain by the Big Coffin Hunters and their associates.
AGELESS STRANGER (1, 3)
Another name for Randall Flagg. Walter o’Dim tells Roland that he will have to kill the Ageless Stranger before he can reach the Tower. Susannah claims this is another name for Merlin.
ALARIC (6)
Roland’s redheaded grandfather. He once went to Garlan to slay a dragon, but the last one in that part of the world had already been killed.
Crossover to Other Works: This probably refers to King Roland of The Eyes of the Dragon.
ALBRECHT (7)
A blond vampire in the posse that follows Jake to the Fedic door. Eddie shoots him.
ALEXANDER, BEN (7)
A low man guard at Algul Siento. The lead engine of Fire-Response Team Bravo kills him.
ALIA (6, 7)
The taheen nurse in the Fedic Dogan. She has the head of a great brown rat. Susannah shoots her in the knee but allows her to escape.
ALICE (ALLIE) (1, 2, 3, 6, M)
Owner of Sheb’s honky-tonk in Tull. She is Roland’s lover until he kills her, along with everyone else in town. The man in black curses her by giving her a magic word to unlock Nort the Weedeater’s memories of death. Jake has a vision of her in the vacant lot in Manhattan.
ALLGOOD, CUTHBERT (THROUGHOUT)
Roland’s best and oldest friend from childhood and member of his first ka-tet. His name is pronounced key-youth-bert. One of his favorite weapons is a slingshot, which he uses to discourage Roy Depape from tormenting Sheemie Ruiz and to lob firecrackers at the oil tankers at Hanging Rock. Roland has seen him take down a bird from sixty yards. He has no sense of the touch whatsoever, but he has an excellent memory for details and rarely forgets a name. He is a firebug at heart. Arguing comes as naturally to him as breathing. If he had lived longer, he might have developed a stomach for torture or killing outright, but he had none of that in Mejis.
On the surface he is a joker, quick to make a smart—or stupid—comment in any situation. Sometimes this makes him casually disarming. At other times, his relentless sense of foolery is simply annoying. Steven Deschain calls him Laughing Boy. To Roland he is (like Eddie Dean) ka-mai, ka’s fool. He believes Cuthbert would joke on the gallows. He couldn’t even name his horse as a normal person would. He is impatient and hates silence more than danger. He accepts that some people might not want to talk for long periods of time, but he doesn’t understand why.
This superficial levity and a patina of insouciance disguise the fact that he is lonely and volatile and that his emotions run deep. He is tormented after seeing Hax hang in Gilead. He can become angry quickly, though it is normally easy to coax him out of his anger. He spent two months mad at Roland in Mejis when he thought that Roland was being irresponsible and careless. His joking takes on a mean, cutting edge when he tries to goad Roland into action, and he finally breaks down and coldcocks his friend, the first time he ever hit him except in play.
He thinks the Tower is a symbol and the Wizard’s Glasses are a myth. He wouldn’t believe in ghosts unless he caught one in his teeth. Though he can’t admit it, he’s jealous of Susan Delgado for stealing his best friend and of Roland for always being the first at everything: the first to become a gunslinger and the first to fall in love. He falls in love with Susan when he meets her, too, but suppresses his feelings and welcomes her into their ka-tet. Though he and Roland mend their friendship, things are never quite the same between them again.
He never has to face Cort in a test of manhood. Mejis is his proving ground, and he is elevated to gunslinger after this mission. Alain told him once that he would die young. He was twenty-four when Randall Flagg put an arrow through his eye at the battle of Jericho Hill.
He is Eddie’s twin and appeared to Stephen King together with Eddie when King was seven. The Crimson King had touched King, but Cuthbert and Eddie won him over to the White.
Physical description: Thin and dark, of average height, with a face that is handsome but restless. Brown hair and dark eyes.
ALLGOOD, ROBERT (4, M)
Cuthbert’s father. In the Marvel series, he leaps in front of a poison dart fired by a slow mutant, saving Steven Deschain’s life.
ALVAREZ, MISHA (4)
A resident of Hambry. Susan Delgado taught her daughter to ride. Moments before Susan dies, Misha spits into her eyes. Her husband is part of the posse that arrests Roland, Cuthbert and Alain at the Bar K Ranch.
AMY (4)
A friend of Susan Delgado. They used to leave each other notes in the stone wall near the Green Heart pavilion when they were kids.
ANDERSON, PEA (4.5)
Debaria sheriff killed by the Crow Gang at Ambush Arroyo.
ANDERSON, RUPERT “OLD BALDY” (4.5)
Tree Village’s big farmer. He’s known to be stingy. He bought Bern Kells’s house after Kells married Nell Ross.
ANDRUS, CORTLAND
See Cort.
ANDY THE MESSENGER ROBOT (4.5, 5, 6, 7)
An Asimov robot, a product of North Central Positronics in association with LaMerk Industries, built more than two thousand years ago. Design: Messenger (Many Other Functions). Serial # DNF-44821-V-63. A tireless walker, he likes to sing songs, spread gossip and deliver horoscopes. He always knows when the Wolves are coming. He tends to be smug and appears to enjoy the discomfort of humans. When asked to divulge privileged information, his voice becomes emotionless and dead, like a real robot. Directive Nineteen is his fallback position in these cases. Each generation, he coerces someone from Calla Bryn Sturgis to become a spy and reports his findings to Finli o’Tego at Algul Siento. He ends up buried in shit at the bottom of Rosalita Muñoz’s outhouse.
Physical description: He looks like a child’s stick figure and reminds Eddie of C-3PO from Star Wars. Seven feet tall with a gold, cylindrical body and impossibly thin silvery arms and legs. His hands have only three fingers. His head is a stainless-steel barrel with blue electric eyes that flash when he’s laughing. He has a plate affixed to his chest with his name and serial number.
ANG, OLLIE (4.5)
One of the miners from Little Debaria who did time in Beelie Stockade. A bald man, slight for a miner but muscular, notable for wearing a wristwatch. He dies in the Debaria jailhouse and his body is burned.
ANSELM, HUGH (5)
Owner of a smallhold across the ridge south of Tian Jaffords’s place in Calla Bryn Sturgis. He helps Tian build Rosalita Muñoz’s outhouse. He and his wife, Krella, have twins (a boy and a girl) around thirteen years old.
ANSELM, KRELLA (5)
Hugh Anselm’s wife. She helps corral the children before the Wolves come.
ARA (5)
Cantab of the Manni’s wife and Henchick’s granddaughter. She throws the Oriza, but as one of the Manni, could never be at fel
lowship with the Sisters of Oriza.
ARDIS (3)
A Pube. The last person to go near Blaine the Mono. Blaine asks him a question he can’t answer, then kills him with electricity.
ARMANEETA (4.5)
The sighe (fairy) who lures Tim Ross through the Endless Forest into the Fagonard Swamp. She has the form of a beautiful naked woman four inches tall with gauzy wings. She gives off a green glow and her upturned eyes have no pupils. She can fly like a dragonfly. Her laughter is a silvery tinkle, like bells coming from a great distance. She colludes with the Covenant Man.
ARN (4.5)
A pokie who works at the Jefferson Ranch and survives the skin-man attack because he was out rounding up strays with Skip and Canfield.
AVERY, HERKIMER “HERK” (4, M)
High Sheriff of Mejis and Chief Constable of Hambry. A frog-eyed, big-bellied man, though his belly is harder than it looks. Considers himself a self-made man who can make hard decisions when he must. He is ingratiating to the Affiliation Brats, but Roland can tell he doesn’t like them. Cuthbert calls him a fat bag of guts without a trustworthy bone in his body, and Alain thinks he wouldn’t piss on them if they were on fire. He brokers a peace treaty between the Big Coffin Hunters and Roland’s trio after the dustup at the Travellers’ Rest, though Roland knows he doesn’t have any authority over Eldred Jonas. He is a figurehead and gladly cedes power to others during conflict, as when the posse rounds up the Affiliation Brats at the Bar K Ranch. He is on duty in the jail when Susan Delgado frees Roland and the others. He tries to strangle her, but she shoots him to death.
BANDERLY (4.5)
The bull foreman at the mines in Little Debaria. He orders the crew to plug the crack in the mine with rocks but refuses to close the mine or report the problem to his superiors in Gilead.
BARONS (L, 3, 4)
Feudal leaders of the family estates around which Baronies developed. They wore ceremonial rings that were handed down from father to son. By the time Roland goes to Mejis, the title has almost no meaning.