Stephen King's the Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance Revised and Updated

by Robin Furth

  Unlike CUTHBERT, who never stopped talking, Jamie was usually closed-mouthed. For him, a twitch of the lips was the equivalent of holding his belly, rolling around on the floor, and howling with glee. Jamie died at the battle of JERICHO HILL, where he was killed by a sniper. Roland thinks that his friend was murdered by either GRISSOM or his eagle-eyed son. Throughout the series, Jamie’s last name is spelled in a variety of ways. It is listed as De Curry, de Curry, and DeCurry.

  I:140, I:149–52 (Dance), I:156–57, I:160, I:161–62, I:167–73 (witnesses Roland’s coming of age), I:174, III:41, III:417, IV:7, IV:649 (birthmark), IV:658, E:158, V:78, V:169, V:170, V:182, V:248, VI:16, VII:497, VII:503, VII:552, VII:801, W:31, W:38, W:39, W:40–84 (42 likes bow and bah), W:84–87, W:96, W:100, W:101 (trailmate), W:104, W:270–83 (rarely says anything), W:284–94, W:294–97, W:300

  FATHER: Jamie’s father made a special leather boot for Jamie’s bah so that Jamie could travel with his two favorite weapons tied to his saddle. W:44

  DEEPNEAU, AARON

  See TET CORPORATION: FOUNDING FATHERS

  DEEPNEAU, ED

  Ed Deepneau was one of the major players in STEPHEN KING’s novel Insomnia. Ed tried to crash an airplane into the DERRY Civic Center so that he could disrupt the pro-choice rally which was being held there. Ed thought his central target was the feminist Susan Day. However, Ed was just a pawn of the CRIMSON KING, whose actual goal was to assassinate four-year-old PATRICK DANVILLE. Luckily for Roland, the Crimson King failed. On the level of the DARK TOWER where the TET CORPORATION is formed, Ed Deepneau was a gentle bookkeeper who died in 1947. He was related to both AARON DEEPNEAU and NANCY DEEPNEAU.

  VII:512–13, VII:514

  DEEPNEAU, NANCY REBECCA

  See TET CORPORATION

  DEERE

  See DEAN, EDDIE: DELTA FLIGHT 901 CHARACTERS

  DEIRDRE THE MAD

  Deirdre the Mad was Roland’s grandmother. It was from her that he inherited his particular combination of dry pragmatism and wild intuition.

  III:361

  DELEVAN, CARL

  Carl Delevan was the overweight, cigarette-loving NEW YORK cop who patrolled the area around CLEMENTS GUNS AND SPORTING GOODS. He and his partner GEORGE O’MEARAH were fooled and then humiliated by Roland. Years later, Delevan died of a stroke while watching The Terminator. The reason? The Terminator reminded him of Roland.

  II:343, II:346, II:347–59 (354 unconscious), II:368 (indirect), II:371–77, II:378, II:380

  DELGADO, CORDELIA

  Cordelia Delgado was SUSAN DELGADO’s skinny maiden aunt. She figured prominently in Roland’s MEJIS adventures, described in Wizard and Glass. Susan’s widowed father, PAT DELGADO, took Cordelia in when she had nowhere else to go, but this act of goodwill proved to be quite unwise. Within a few years Pat was dead—betrayed by one of his friends. His lands and possessions were stolen by the traitorous members of THE HORSEMEN’S ASSOCIATION and his daughter’s maidenhead was essentially auctioned off by Cordelia. (Although Cordelia seemed prudish in many other ways, she had no qualms about acting as a kind of pimp for her niece.) It seems unlikely that Cordelia participated in the plot against her brother, but she most certainly knew about it.

  Over the course of Wizard and Glass, Cordelia’s suppressed aggression flowered into a dangerous psychotic rage. When Susan defied her aunt by giving her maidenhead to Roland freely rather than saving it for Mayor THORIN’s hard cash, Cordelia went mad and joined forces with the witch RHEA OF THE CÖOS. After Susan was burned on a Charyou Tree fire, Cordelia died of a stroke.

  IV:125, IV:126, IV:130, IV:131, IV:133, IV:135, IV:140, IV:151, IV:152 (story of Susan’s family “madness”), IV:166–69 (167 personality described), IV:176–77 (Jonas mentions), IV:191–210 (Thorin’s party: 195–203 introduced; 197 described; 202–3 whispers to Susan; 206–8 sits next to Susan), IV:211, IV:212, IV:235–39 (235 described; 236 blouse incident), IV:240, IV:241–43 (242–43 described), IV:244, IV:245, IV:249, IV:256, IV:278–79, IV:281, IV:287, IV:294, IV:303–4, IV:307, IV:308–14, IV:324, IV:328–31 (with Jonas), IV:336, IV:343, IV:356, IV:361–62, IV:364–66, IV:372–74 (tells Jonas suspicions about Susan/Roland), IV:375–76, IV:377–78, IV:397, IV:413, IV:426–28, IV:429, IV:459–60, IV:466–67 (burns Susan in effigy), IV:495–98 (496 has horse teeth), IV:503, IV:513, IV:515, IV:549–52 (and Rhea), IV:563–65, IV:605–8 (Susan burns), IV:624–25 (dies of stroke), VII:335

  DELGADO, HIRAM

  Hiram was SUSAN’s grandfather as well as PAT and CORDELIA DELGADO’s father.

  IV:551

  DELGADO, LUPE

  See CALLAHAN, FATHER DONALD FRANK: CALLAHAN’S HOME SHELTER ASSOCIATES

  DELGADO, PAT

  Red-haired, red-bearded Pat Delgado was SUSAN DELGADO’s “da.” He also happened to be the best drover on the WESTERN DROP. By the time Roland and his first ka-tet arrived in HAMBRY, Pat had already been dead for five years. Unlike many of the important men of Hambry, Pat Delgado was loyal to the AFFILIATION. FRAN LENGYLL maintained that Pat was killed by his horse, OCEAN FOAM, but he was actually murdered for daring to stand up to Lengyll and CROYDON’s plans to turn traitor. Though Pat was honorable in life, his memory was desecrated. The men who were supposed to be his friends stole his lands, and his money-hungry sister, CORDELIA DELGADO, tried to sell his only daughter’s maidenhead to the highest bidder.

  IV:124–25, IV:135, IV:139, IV:140, IV:142, IV:143, IV:144, IV:146, IV:150–51, IV:156 (remembered first appearance of thinny), IV:157–58, IV:168, IV:169, IV:202–3, IV:205, IV:207–8, IV:212, IV:235, IV:236, IV:237, IV:240, IV:251, IV:254–56 (rolled on by his horse), IV:279, IV:282, IV:287 (Susan thinks he was murdered), IV:293, IV:294 (interest in Old People), IV:295, IV:301 (friend of betrayer Brian Hookey), IV:309, IV:314, IV:315, IV:365, IV:457–60 (Susan in his office), IV:466, IV:497, IV:504, IV:505, IV:507, IV:541, IV:551, IV:604

  DELGADO, SUSAN

  Although we hear of Susan Delgado, “the lovely girl at the window,” as early as The Gunslinger, we don’t find out much about her love affair with Roland until Wizard and Glass. Susan was Roland’s only true love. He met her in HAMBRY, after he and his first ka-tet were sent east by their fathers, who wished to keep them far from the dangerous machinations of THE GOOD MAN, otherwise known as JOHN FARSON. At the time of their meeting, Roland was fourteen and Susan sixteen. Roland had just won his guns and had only recently lost his virginity. Susan, a drover’s daughter, had lost her father and was about to lose her honor as well, thanks to her AUNT CORDELIA’s financial deal with the randy mayor, HART THORIN.

  Susan was probably descended from the “FRIENDLY FOLK,” a sect that seemed quite widespread in MID-WORLD before it moved on. Like them, she used the terms “thee” and “thou” in her speech. It’s quite possible that the Friends were somehow related to the MANNI, though we do not know this for certain. Although she was an excellent horsewoman (her beloved horses, PYLON and FELICIA, are also characters in the book), Susan was uncomfortable with guns. This, too, may have been owing to her family’s background.

  Roland first met Susan while she was on her way home from her disagreeable and embarrassing meeting with the nasty old witch RHEA OF THE CÖOS. Rhea was to check Susan’s “honesty”—in other words, her virginity. In order to fulfill her upcoming duty as Mayor Hart Thorin’s jilly she had to be pure—unsullied by man or demon. Ostensibly she was to bear the mayor a child (his own wife was barren), but Thorin was actually much more interested in the planting than in the cultivation of his seed.

  With her waist-length golden-blond hair and gray eyes, Susan is the most beautiful woman found in the Dark Tower series. She is also “honest” in every sense of the word and gives Roland her heart freely and completely, despite the fact that her prissy and hypocritical maiden aunt has already squirreled away much of the gold given for Susan’s maidenhead.

  Susan’s devotion to Roland did not end happily. Branded a traitor, she was burned as a Charyou Tree sacrifice. Although she didn’t know it, Roland had alre
ady abandoned her, though she was forced to witness her death while lost in the nowhere dreamtime of MAERLYN’S GRAPEFRUIT.

  In the years following her death, Roland frequently dreamed of Susan, often in association with the rhyme: “bird and bear and hare and fish, give my love her fondest wish.” Her scent of jasmine, rose, honeysuckle, and old sweet hay was evoked by the ORACLE OF THE MOUNTAINS when she wanted to seduce him.

  In Wolves of the Calla, we learn that PERE CALLAHAN’s beloved friend and coworker at the HOME shelter was named LUPE DELGADO, an unmistakable echo of Susan’s name. Like Susan, Lupe was beautiful, and like her he suffered a tragic fate. In The Dark Tower, the final book of our series, we find out that SHEEMIE, the mildly retarded tavern boy from MEJIS who becomes a BREAKER in THUNDERCLAP, was also in love with Susan. Like Roland, Sheemie blamed himself for her death.

  I:86, I:106, I:119–20, I:128, I:131, I:140, I:157, II:231, II:394, III:41, IV:65, IV:66–67, IV:68 (physical description. “. . . bird and bear and hare and fish . . .”), IV:79, IV:98, IV:116, IV:120, IV:122–38 (and Rhea; 123 “Careless Love”; 123 heart vs. head; 127 sees Maerlyn’s Grapefruit; 130–35 Rhea inspects her “honesty”; 133–34 Rhea’s sexual touch; 134 invokes Thorin’s name for protection and is ashamed; 137–38 Rhea puts spell on Susan), IV:139–59 (meets “Will Dearborn.” He whistles “Careless Love”), IV:162, IV:164–65 (Roland thinks about her), IV:166–70 (and Cordelia. Won’t lie with Thorin until Demon Moon), IV:191, IV:191–210 (Thorin’s Party; 195 sapphire pendant, fog-colored eyes; 197–98 introduced to Roland, 208 Roland wants to shoot her; 209–10 Roland dances with her. A question of propriety), IV:211–12, IV:213, IV:222–23 (Roland and love/hate), IV:233, IV:234–59 (237–38 cheated of inheritance; 239 desire for Roland; 241 flowers from Roland; 247 Roland on Drop), IV:277, IV:278–84, IV:285, IV:286, IV:287 (suspects father was murdered), IV:288–305 (Citgo with Roland. Rhea spying), IV:306–28 (311–12 Thorin grabs; 316 loss of virginity; 326 Roland’s rhyme to wake her from trance), IV:329–31, IV:336, IV:342–45, IV:353, IV:356–60 (subject of angry thoughts), IV:361–62 (“lovely girl at the window”), IV:364–67, IV:368, IV:370, IV:372, IV:373–74, IV:377–78, IV:388, IV:393, IV:399, IV:400, IV:401, IV:405, IV:406, IV:411–12, IV:413, IV:415, IV:416, IV:418–19, IV:426–44 (with Roland, Cuthbert, Alain. 432 Roland’s plan of attack; 435 hypnotized; 441–42 remembers Rhea and Maerlyn’s Grapefruit), IV:449–50 (stealing firecrackers with Sheemie), IV:452, IV:457–61 (in father’s office), IV:463–66 (464 intuition that Roland will desert her), IV:466–67 (Cordelia burns her in effigy), IV:474, IV:479, IV:480–83, IV:494–500, IV:502–13 (507–13 rescues Roland’s ka-tet), IV:514–19, IV:523–26, IV:529, IV:531, IV:533–34 (Rhea tells Jonas her location), IV:536–46 (taken by Jonas), IV:548–49, IV:549–52 (subject of discussion between Cordelia and Rhea), IV:561–62, IV:564–65 (Rhea and Cordelia lead crowds against her), IV:565–70 (Sheemie follows), IV:571, IV:577, IV:578, IV:579–81 (Roland decides to leave her), IV:581–83, IV:585–87, IV:594, IV:602–9 (Roland sees her burn in Wizard’s glass), IV:619, IV:622 (Roland always dreams of her), IV:650, IV:653, IV:655, IV:664, E:160, E:165, E:168, E:169, E:195, V:35, V:46, V:174, V:181, V:210, V:211, V:411 (bit o’ tail), VI:234 (indirect), VI:269, VI:277, VI:290, VI:294, VI:391, VI:404, VII:142, VII:219, VII:220, VII:468, VII:498, VII:695, VII:762, VII:802, VII:825, W:82, W:84, W:89

  SUSAN DELGADO’S ASSOCIATES:

  AMY (SUSAN’S CHILDHOOD FRIEND): IV:327

  DELGADO, CORDELIA: See DELGADO, CORDELIA, listed separately

  DELGADO, HIRAM: See DELGADO, HIRAM, listed separately

  DELGADO, PAT: See DELGADO, PAT listed separately

  GRAMMA: Susan inherited her singing voice from this grandmother. IV:123

  MATERNAL GREAT-AUNT: She ran crazy, set herself on fire, and threw herself over the DROP. IV:152

  MOTHER: The only thing we know about Susan’s mother is that her maiden name was Manchester. IV:313

  DELICIOUS RAIN

  See NORTH CENTRAL POSITRONICS

  DELONG, PUCK

  See DEBARIA CHARACTERS: SHERIFF’S OFFICE: FRYE, KELLIN: FRYE, VIKKA

  DEMON ELEMENTALS (DEMON ASPECTS OF THE BEAM)

  According to the metaphysical map of MID-WORLD, which Roland drew in The Waste Lands, Mid-World is shaped like a wheel. The hub of the wheel is the DARK TOWER. Crossing at this nexus point are six BEAMS, which simultaneously hold the Tower in place and maintain the proper alignment of time, space, size, and dimension. The Beams both bind the macroverse together and separate the many worlds which spin about the great, smoky-colored linchpin of existence. The twelve termination points of the Beams are watched over by twelve animal totems known as GUARDIANS.

  In Song of Susannah, we find out that—like the kabbalistic Tree of Life found in our world—Mid-World’s metaphysical map has a darker side. Just as each Beam has two designated Guardians, each Beam is also overseen by a Demon Elemental. Although there are only six Demon Elementals, there are twelve demon aspects, since each demon has a male and a female self. The Guardians of the Beam watch over the mortal world, but the hermaphroditic Demon Elementals watch over the invisible world of speaking demons, ghosts, and ill-sicks—all those LESSER DEMONS OF THE PRIM, which remained in Mid-World after the magical tide of the PRIM (or GREATER DISCORDIA) withdrew from the land.

  If some of the Guardians serve the WHITE, then at least some of the Demon Elementals serve the Outer Dark. In Song of Susannah, we find out that one such Demon Elemental tricked both Roland and SUSANNAH into helping the CRIMSON KING bring MORDRED RED-HEEL (the dan-tete, or little god) into being.

  Posing as the ORACLE OF THE MOUNTAINS that we met in The Gunslinger, the demon’s female aspect had sex with Roland in exchange for prophecy. Once collected, Roland’s sperm was stored (probably in one of the GREAT OLD ONES’ machines) until he and his tet-mates EDDIE and Susannah Dean arrived at the SPEAKING RING near LUD, where JAKE CHAMBERS was about to be reborn into Mid-World.

  As Roland and Eddie brought Jake through the magical door labeled THE BOY, Susannah kept the sex-hungry, male SPEAKING-RING DEMON busy. Though our tet didn’t know it, this was no ordinary speaking-ring demon but the male aspect of the Demon Elemental who had copulated with Roland earlier in our tale.

  Roland’s sperm must have been defrosted beforehand, because this demon—though sterile itself—shot our gunslinger’s fertile seed into Susannah, seed which was (or soon would be) mixed with that of the Crimson King.

  VI:112–14, VI:117, VI:242, VI:252 (service for the King)

  **ORACLE OF THE MOUNTAINS (SUCCUBUS): CONSTANT READERS met the Oracle of the Mountains in The Gunslinger, the first book of the Dark Tower series. This female demon haunts a circle of DRUIT STONES in the WILLOW JUNGLES of the CYCLOPEAN MOUNTAINS, where Roland and JAKE CHAMBERS travel while following the MAN IN BLACK. Like others of her kind, the Oracle feeds on desire. This weeping, sighing presence, who is described as a “demon with no shape, only a kind of unformed sexual glare with the eye of prophecy,” first lures Jake into her cold embrace and then, when she is thwarted, takes Roland. (Roland is probably the one she wants anyway.)

  Unlike Jake, Roland enters the Oracle’s circle willingly, and with the aid of mescaline (what CORT once called the Philosopher’s Stone) makes conscious contact with the haunting presence. Roland’s desire is to force the spirit to prophesy, but in order to do this he has to have sex with this star-slut and whore of the winds. During their encounter, the Oracle takes on the voice and scent of Roland’s dead love, SUSAN DELGADO. In the 2003 version of The Gunslinger, the Oracle warns Roland to watch for Roses and Unfound Doorways.

  In Song of Susannah we learn that this demon was no run-of-the-mill demon sexpot but the female aspect of a Demon Elemental posing as a speaking-ring demon. She seduced Roland so that she could collect his sperm for the making of his nemesis, MORDRED. I:117, I:121–32, I:138, I:215, II:25, II:40, II:315, III:173, V:46, VI:112–13, VI:121–22, VI:241 (indirect)

  SPEAKING-RING DEMON (JAKE’S
ENTRY INTO MID-WORLD): Like the MANSION DEMON that Jake Chambers battles in The Waste Lands, this invisible male monster is a doorkeeper. Roland, EDDIE, and SUSANNAH have to outwit it in order to draw Jake from his version of our world into Mid-World. However, unbeknownst to our friends, this wraith is in actuality a Demon Elemental, the male facet of the ORACLE with whom Roland had sexual relations in The Gunslinger.

  Like all such sexually charged Druit Stone spirits, this invisible creature’s weakness is the same as its weapon. Hence, the only hope our ka-tet has of “drawing” Jake successfully is first to capture the doorkeeper and then to keep him in a sexual snare long enough for the boy to pass through.

  As soon as our ka-tet enters the circle, this raging, hungry demon senses their presence and comes toward them, disturbing the grasses to the north as it rushes forward. Since Eddie is the one outlining the magical picture of the door itself (and hence the one transgressing that ancient law against passage between worlds), he is the lightning rod attracting the force. However, as the demon rushes toward him, Susannah Dean traps it, quite literally, between her legs. Though it is agonizingly painful, Susannah manages to hold the demon long enough for Jake to be “born.”

  Sex with such demons has its risks, as Roland is all too aware. As the novel progresses we find that Susannah is pregnant, but that the baby’s father is not Eddie but this demon, whose engorged sex is compared to a giant icicle.

  In retrospect, it seems that our tet’s tangle with this spirit was a setup designed by the followers of the CRIMSON KING. As the Oracle of the Mountains, this Demon Elemental took Roland’s sperm so that it could be genetically fused with that of the Red King. This tainted seed was then planted inside Susannah so that she would give birth to Roland’s ultimate nemesis, MORDRED. III:189–90, III:193–94, III:197–98, III:201–3, III:206–12, IV:69, IV:92, V:84, V:246, V:258, V:378, V:478, V:483, VI:106, VI:107, VI:113, VI:116