by Robin Furth
TRAVOIS: We have this word in our world too. The travois was originally used by Native Americans. It was a means of transport composed of two poles, joined by a frame, which would then be drawn by an animal or a human. W:46
TRIG/TRIGGERS/TRIGGIE: Clever. Trig implies craftiness, and can also imply untrustworthiness. III:327, V:114, V:575
TRIG COVE: A clever bastard. Believe it or not, this term can be used as a compliment. For example, Gasher calls Tick-Tock a trig cove. III:298, III:356, VII:121
TRIG DELAH: Extremely clever. VII:176
TRIG HAND WITH A GUN: A good shot. W:54
TRUCKOMOBILE: A truck. VII:426
TRUE AS EVER WAS: True as ever. This statement is also uttered when an ORIZA flies true to its mark. V:334
TRUE AS THE TURTLE THAT HOLDS UP THE WORLD: As true as true can be. W:250
TRUE MEN OF THE GUN: True gunslingers. W:10
TRUE THREAD, THE: This is Cort’s phrase. It refers to a person’s most basic and fundamental skills. A gunslinger’s true thread is his ability to use weapons. VII:250
TRUM: In the CALLAS, a person is trum when he or she can convince other people to do dangerous things. However, a “big and painful trum” is a terrible disease, like cancer. V:348, VII:413
TURN YOUR MIND BACK: Think back. W:90
TURNED A BAD APPLE OUT OF THE BASKET: If you’ve turned a bad apple out of the basket, you’ve shown the true nature of an evil person. W:173
TWINNER: The term twinner actually comes from the novels The Talisman and Black House, which Stephen King co-wrote with Peter Straub. Although King doesn’t use this term in the Dark Tower series, I frequently use it in this Concordance to describe the “twin” phenomenon, which occurs so frequently in the Dark Tower books. A person’s twinner is the version of that person that exists in another world, or on another level of the Dark Tower. For example, Eddie Dean dies in Mid-World, but Susannah Dean meets one of his twinners—Eddie Toren—in an alternative version of New York. Places can have twinners too. For example, Mid-World’s Lud is the twinner of our world’s New York, albeit in a distant future where terrible disasters have taken place.
TWIRLING HAND: A somewhat impatient gesture. Roland frequently uses it. It means “carry on” or “hurry up.” V:701
UFFIS: This ancient term means shape-changer. VII:602
UNDERMIND: The unconscious mind. VII:513
UNIPOLAR CIRCUITS: See DIPOLAR CIRCUITS, above
UNIVERSAL TRUTHS, THE: Cort gave his apprentices lectures on what he called “the universal truths.” We are not told what they are. V:78
VAGS: Vagrant dead. See VAGS, in CHARACTERS
VAQUERO (VAQ): Spanish for cowboy. This term is used in Hambry. IV:507
VURT: A nasty flying creature, also known as a bullet-bird. With its stony beak, it could bore a hole right through a person with its stony beak. W:118, W:129
WAITING WON’T MAKE IT ANY PRETTIER: Waiting won’t make it any easier. W:74
WALK-INS: Certain parts of western Maine are plagued by walk-ins, or beings that enter our world from other worlds. See WALK-INS, in CHARACTERS
**WARE THE MAN WHO FAKES A LIMP: This was one of Cort’s sayings. In other words, don’t trust somebody who wants to be caught.
WASHOUTS: Many of the tracks of the Western Line had been destroyed by washout and ground-shakers, or floods and earthquakes. W:40
WATCH AND WARRANT: See DO YOU SET YOUR WATCH AND WARRANT ON IT?, listed earlier in this section
WATCH ME: A Mid-World card game. People usually place bets, so it can be rather dangerous. (One type of Watch Me game is a penny-it, three-to-stay.) Players are often killed at Watch Me tables. The phrase “Watch Me” can mean “You have a deal.” III:278, III:366, IV:17, V:559, VI:17, W:287
WATCH ME CHIP (A WATCH ME CHIP): A Watch Me chip is like a poker chip. V:627
WATCH ME FACE: A Watch Me face is like a poker face. It is a face devoid of expression—one that can’t be read because it doesn’t expose emotion. The person behind the Watch Me face guards his or her secrets well. VI:38
**WAY OF THE GUN: This is another term for gunslinger training. W:36
WE ARE AT PEACE, YOU AND I: We are at peace. There is no argument between us. V:111
WE ARE KA-TET, WE ARE ONE FROM MANY: We are joined by fate, and our destinies are woven together. See KA-TET, in HIGH SPEECH. V:581, W:29
WE DEAL IN LEAD: A statement made by Steve McQueen in The Magnificent Seven, but Roland also uses it. Gunslingers are fighters first and foremost, but they are not mere hired guns. They are lawmakers and lawmen, and the bullet is the tool of their trade. V:115
WE MAY BE CAST ON . . . BUT NO MAN MAY CAST US BACK: Once we begin, we cannot be stopped. V:111
WE SPREAD THE TIME AS WE CAN, BUT IN THE END THE WORLD TAKES IT ALL BACK: We do what we can during a life, but in the end the world takes our lives along with everything we’ve accomplished. V:244
WE WILL ACCEPT NO QUARTER (NO QUARTER): We will neither accept nor give mercy. V:171, V:679
WEE SHIM: A small child. IV:458
WEDDIKEN: A burlap apron. W:116
WEEBEE: A small child. W:166
WEED-EATER: Somebody addicted to chewing devil grass. I:26, I:35
WE’LL HAVE TO MOVE VERY FAST, OR WE’LL FIND OURSELVES BASTED IN A HOT OAST: In other words, our goose will be cooked. II:136
WE’LL KEEP HIM VERY WELL: We’ll take care of him. VI:37
WELL-MET (WE WERE WELL-MET, MAY WE BE WELL-MET ON THE PATH): We met, and that is important. Good has come from our meeting (implying an element of fate). “May we be well-met” means “Let good come of this meeting.” IV:158, V:107, V:215, V:229, VI:9, VI:181
WELL-MET OR ILL, IT MAY BE YOU WILL FIND WHAT YOU SEEK: Whether good or evil comes of our meeting, you may find what you originally set out to find. V:107
WENBERRY: Wenberries are like strawberries. III:279
WERVELS: Poisonous rodents the size of dogs. They lived in the Endless Forest. W:111
WERY: This is Gasher’s way of pronouncing “very.” III:299
WESTERN LINE: The Western Line was one of Mid-World’s train lines. Once, the Western Line ran from New Canaan to the Mohaine Desert. By Roland’s youth, it only ran from Gilead to Debaria. W:40
WHAT I KEN: What I understand. V:205
WHATEVER THE GODS MAY BE, THEY HAVE FAVORED THIS PLACE: Similar to saying “God has favored this place,” but it makes allowances for Mid-World’s many deities. V:208
WHEELS: An archaic form of measurement still used throughout Mid-World and the BORDERLANDS. In The Waste Lands, Blaine tells us that a distance of eight thousand wheels is roughly equivalent to seven thousand miles. In that case, there are about 1.143 wheels to a mile. However, in Wizard and Glass, tricky Blaine tells us that 900 mph is the same as 530 wheels per hour. In this instance, one wheel is equal to 1.7 miles. In The Dark Tower (the final volume of the Dark Tower series), we are told that 120 wheels is roughly equivalent to 100 miles, hence a wheel equals about .83 of a mile, but slightly later we are told that twelve wheels is equal to nine or ten miles, hence a wheel is approximately .75 of a mile. Obviously, wheels, like the points of the compass, are in drift. IV:148, V:4, VII:718–19
WHEN FACTS SPEAK, THE WISE MAN LISTENS: This was one of Vannay’s sayings. W:45
WHEN YOU ARE UNSURE, YOU MUST LET KA ALONE TO WORK ITSELF OUT: If you are unsure about what to do, leave the decision in the hand of God, the gods, or Lady Fate. V:392
WHERE AND WHEN (THIS WHERE AND WHEN): Your where and when refers to the specific level of the Dark Tower you are on (or which world you are in), and what time period you are inhabiting. Each where has many whens, and each when has many wheres. VII:36
WHERE ELSE WOULD I BE? THE WEST END OF THE WORLD?: This is a Lud saying. III:339
WHICH SIDE OF THE BISCUIT YOUR HONEY GOES ON: If you know which side of the biscuit your honey goes on, you know who pays your bills and so you do what they need you to do. W:72
WHITE: In our wor
ld, the White is an elemental force akin to faith and can mean faith in God or in a just universe. Before he lost his calling, Father Callahan knew the White well, and that energy was returned to him at the end of his life. To the beleaguered inhabitants of Mid-World and the BORDERLANDS, the White is the force of good and is the opposite of the OUTER DARK—that force of chaos and destruction championed by the Crimson King. When Aunt Talitha of River Crossing learns that Roland is a gunslinger, she says to her companions, “Behold ye, the return of the White! After evil ways and evil days, the White comes again! Be of good heart and hold up your heads, for ye have lived to see the wheel of ka begin to turn once more!” (III:232) To the beleaguered inhabitants of Mid-World, the aristocratic gunslingers are the knights of the White. In an unstable and violent present, they represent a stable and peaceful past, a kind of golden age. Roland’s father, Steven Deschain, is often referred to as the last Lord of Light. Both the Affiliation and the ancient hero Arthur Eld represent the White, and yet the term means more than a particular political faction, allegiance, or social class.
The true meaning of the White relates back to the philosophy embedded in the Old Tongue, or High Speech, a philosophy of wholeness which seems to bear some resemblance to the Neoplatonic vision of the One. Just before Jake sees the Rose in the deserted Lot at Forty-sixth Street and Second Avenue, he hears the voice of the White, which he finds indescribably beautiful:
The humming grew. Now it was not a thousand voices but a million, an open funnel of voices rising from the deepest well of the universe. He caught names in that group voice, but could not have said what they were. One might have been Marten. One might have been Cuthbert. Another might have been Roland—Roland of Gilead.
There were other names; there was a babble of conversation that might have been ten thousand entwined stories; but above all that gorgeous, swelling hum, a vibration that wanted to fill his head with bright white light. It was, Jake realized with a joy so overwhelming that it threatened to burst him to pieces, the voice of Yes; the voice of White; the voice of Always. It was a great chorus of affirmation, and it sang in the empty lot. It sang for him. (III:124)
The White is wholeness and unity. It is the tapestry woven from many interlocking KA-TETS. It contains both good and evil, yet seen in the greater context of the White there is no gray or black, only whiteness. Like white light, the White contains all colors within its balance. Maerlyn’s Rainbow is a breaking-up of this whiteness into a spectrum, many colors of which are troublesome. For example, the hungry, semisexual energy of Maerlyn’s Grapefruit (the Pink One) proves disastrous for any who stare into its depths. V:101, V:104, V:115, VI:270, VII:4
WHITE BLIND: The poor salt miners of Debaria get drunk on White Blind. W:62
WHITE TEA: A refreshing, non-alcoholic drink. We have white tea in our world too. It is made from the young leaves of the tea plant. IV:184
WHY DON’T YOU STOP BEATING YOUR BREAST AND GET STARTED: Stop pulling your hair out and begin. V:559
WHY IS A CROOKED LETTER AND CAN’T BE MADE STRAIGHT . . . NEVER MIND WHY: This is one of Cort’s sayings. In other words, don’t bother asking. I:135
WHY LOOK FOR STORMS THAT ARE STILL OVER THE HORIZON? Why look for problems that haven’t arisen yet. W:155
WICKETS: See POINTS, above
WIDE EARTH: One of Gilead’s Fair-Days. It takes place in late winter/early spring. Wide Earth was famous for its riddling contests. See GILEAD FAIR-DAYS, at the beginning of this Concordance. See also MID-WORLD HOLIDAYS, in APPENDIX IV. V:687, VII:64
WIDOWER’S HUMP: An older man’s curved spine. VII:427
WIDOWMAKER: A gun. VII:49
WILL IT PLEASE YA: Used like “please” at the end of a sentence. For example, “Send word to my mother, will it please ya.” W:185
WILL YOU DRINK TO THE EARTH, AND TO THE DAYS WHICH HAVE PASSED UPON IT? WILL YOU DRINK TO THE FULLNESS WHICH WAS, AND TO FRIENDS WHO HAVE PASSED ON? WILL YOU DRINK TO GOOD COMPANY, WELL MET?: This toast is made by Roland in River Crossing. III:234
WILL YOU NOT SEND ME ON WITH A WORD: Won’t you speak to me? VII:760
WILL YOU OPEN TO US IF WE OPEN TO YOU?: If you ask a gunslinger to defend you in the name of the WHITE, he will ask you three questions. This is the first of them. The next questions is “Do you see us for what we are and accept what we do?” The final question is “Do you seek aid and succor?” V:109, V:230, V:397, VI:275, W:65
WILL YOU STAND WITH ME: Will you stand with me and fight? W:58
WISH YOU JOY OF IT: I hope it makes you happy, or go for it. W:227
WINE-BIBBER: A boozer. III:61
WINTER: One of Gilead’s Fair-Days. See MID-WORLD HOLIDAYS, in APPENDIX IV.
WINTER’S SNOW IS FULL OF WOE, WINTER’S CHILD IS STRONG AND WILD: A Mid-World saying. V:138
WIT GREEN WIT: A canned drink, which Eddie tastes in the Fedic Dogan. He finds it utterly foul. VII:155
WITCHGRASS: Grass that grows in the foothills of the Cyclopean Mountains. I:118
WITCHLIGHT: In the tunnels beneath Castle Discordia, the puddles glow with what might be either radiation or witchlight. VII:562
WOODS TEA: Tea Roland brews from forest plants. V:107
WOODSMAN’S LUNCH: The filling lunch that a woodsman carries into the forest to sustain him while he works. W:209
WORDSLINGER: A writer. Roland calls Stephen King a wordslinger. VI:300
WORK-STOOP: A Gilead term for a porch located behind the main house and which faces both barn and fields. V:318
WORLD NEXT DOOR (THE WORLD NEXT DOOR): Those worlds which are similar to ours but which are not exactly the same. Eddie must come from one of the worlds next door, since in his version of New York, Co-Op City is in Brooklyn, not the Bronx. V:106
WOT (I WOT): I believe. W:5, W:10
WOULD’EE HAVE THE PEACE OF THE CLEARING?: Would you like to pass on to the next world? VII:50
WRISTBANDS: Handcuffs. II:356
WRIT OF TRADE: A legal document conveying ownership. VII:37
**YAR: Yes. VI:179, VII:83
YE CHARY GUNSTRUCK MAN: See CHARY, in HIGH SPEECH
YEAR END GATHERING: Year End Gathering is one of Mid-World’s Fair-Days. Although REAP is the year’s true end and marks the beginning of winter, Year End marks the end of the calendar year. V:21
YEAR’S END: One of Gilead’s Fair-Days. See GILEAD FAIR-DAYS, at the beginning of this Concordance. See also MID-WORLD HOLIDAYS, in APPENDIX IV.
YE’RE A FIERCE TRIM: This is a Lud term for “you’re a tough guy.” III:297
YESTEREVE: Yesterday evening. V:410
YONDER: Over there. W:43
YOU HAVE DONE ME FINE: You have done well by me. W:251
YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN THE FACE OF YOUR FATHER: Gunslinger culture was patriarchal, and a man was expected to uphold the honor of his father, and his father’s fathers, at all costs. V:661, VI:144
YOU MIGHT AS WELL TRY TO DRINK THE OCEAN WITH A SPOON AS ARGUE WITH A LOVER: There’s no dissuading someone who is in love. II:304
YOU MUST NEVER DRAW UNTIL YOU KNOW HOW MANY ARE AGAINST YOU, OR YOU’VE SATISFIED YOURSELF THAT YOU CAN NEVER KNOW, OR YOU’VE DECIDED THAT IT’S YOUR DAY TO DIE: This rather bleak statement comes from Roland. VII:55
YOU NEEDN’T DIE HAPPY WHEN YOUR DAY COMES, BUT YOU MUST DIE SATISFIED, FOR YOU HAVE LIVED YOUR LIFE FROM BEGINNING TO END AND KA IS ALWAYS SERVED: This is another of Roland’s sayings. VII:5
YOU RUN WITHOUT CONSIDERATION AND FALL IN A HOLE: One of Cort’s sayings. IV:286
YOU SAY TRUE, I SAY THANKYA: See entry in CALLA BRYN STURGIS DIALECT
YOU WIN THE FAIR-DAY GOOSE: See FAIR-DAY GOOSE, above
YOUNG EYES SEE FAR: IV:174
YOUR FILL: Your territory. Debaria was Sheriff Peavy’s fill. W:57
YOUR HEART SURELY SAID TRUE: Your heart guided you well. V:316
ZN: See entry in HIGH SPEECH
Manni Terms
ANYROA’ (ANY RO’): See entry in MID-WORLD ARGOT
BAYDER
RIES: Batteries. V:415
BEFORE THE SUN GOES ROOFTOP: Before the sun is high. VI:7
BOOK OF THE MANNI: The Manni’s sacred book. It seems to be a version of the Bible. V:16
BRANNI BOB AND BRANNI COFF: The Branni Bob is the most powerful of the magical plumb bobs used by the Manni of Calla Redpath. As the Branni Bob swings, it gains weight and the space it passes through becomes DIM. The Branni Bob is carried in the Branni Coff. See MANNI: BRANNI BOB, in CHARACTERS
COFFS: Coffs are the boxes in which Manni carry their plumb bobs and magnets. They are large wooden boxes covered in stars, moons, and odd geometric shapes. The undersides of the coffs are fitted with long metal sleeves, which house long wooden rods. The rods can then be placed on the shoulders so that the coffs and their contents can be carried like coffins. VI:26
DIM: See entry in MID-WORLD ARGOT
FIN-GAN: The first word. According to the Manni, the first word, or fin-Gan, was hile. According to their beliefs, Hile was the first word, the one that set the world spinning. W:201
FORCE, THE: See OVER, THE, below
FORGETFUL, THE (THE FORGETFUL FOLK): Those who have left the Manni tribe to marry heathens. They will spend the rest of eternity in NA’AR, or the Manni Hell. V:407, VI:6, VI:28
GLAMMER: Although glammer is a term found throughout Mid-World, it has particular importance for the Manni, whose religion makes use of magic to travel between worlds. As the Manni say, “Magic and glammer, both are one, and they do unroll from the back. From the past, do’ee ken.” VI:5
IN TIME OF LOSS, MAKE GOD YOUR BOSS: A Manni song. V:6
KAMMEN: See entry in HIGH SPEECH
KAVEN: The persistence of magic. The greater the magic, the longer it persists. Magic unrolls from the back, which means from the past. Hence, even when an object or a place seems to have lost its magic, a seed of that magic remains and can be awakened by those (like the Manni) who know how. VI:4, VI:26
KRA: A Manni cabin. Manni men live in a kra with all of their wives and offspring. When a Manni speaks of the “men of his kra,” he means the men of his village, who are probably all kinsfolk. V:466, VI:34