by Robin Furth
DRETTO, ’CIMI
See BALAZAR, ENRICO: BALAZAR’S MEN
DRUNK IN CELL
See DEBARIA CHARACTERS: SHERIFF’S OFFICE
DUGAN, BISHOP
See CALLAHAN, FATHER DONALD FRANK: CALLAHAN’S OTHER PAST ASSOCIATES
DUGARELLI, FRANK
See DEAN, HENRY: HENRY DEAN’S KA-TET
E
EAGLE GUARDIAN
See GUARDIANS OF THE BEAM
EARNSHAW, DINKY
See BREAKERS
EARP, WYATT
See GUNSLINGERS (OUR WORLD)
EAST DOWNE, WALKING WATERS OF
See MID-WORLD FOLKLORE
EAST STONEHAM CHARACTERS
See MAINE CHARACTERS
EASTWOOD, CLINT
Clint Eastwood starred in a number of spaghetti Westerns, including A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More. He also directed and starred in such great gothic Westerns as Pale Rider and High Plains Drifter. Roland looks a bit like Clint and is an even better shot.
III:182
ECHEVERRIA
See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: OTHER CHARACTERS
EDDIE
See DEAN, EDDIE
EISENHART, MARGARET
See ORIZA, SISTERS OF
EISENHART, TOM AND TESSA
See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: RANCHERS: EISENHART, VAUGHN
EISENHART, VAUGHN
See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: RANCHERS
EISENHART, VERNA
See CALLA BRYN STURGIS CHARACTERS: ROONTS
ELD, ARTHUR (THE ELD, LINE OF ELD, HORN OF ELD)
Arthur Eld—ancient King of ALL-WORLD and MID-WORLD’s greatest mythical hero—was a warrior of the WHITE. Like the line of DESCHAIN, who were descended from one of his forty jillies, the Eld was a Guardian of the DARK TOWER. Although history credits him with uniting the land, Arthur Eld’s original kingdom lay in the western part of Mid-World, in the baronies destroyed by FARSON. Despite the glory associated with it, Arthur Eld’s reign was a brutal time. In the days of Eld, people, not stuffy-guys, were sacrificed on Charyou Tree fires.
In story and tapestry, Arthur is often depicted as riding his white stallion, LLAMREI, and brandishing his great sword, EXCALIBUR. After his death and the dissolution of his kingdom, Arthur Eld’s horse remained the sigul of IN-WORLD, and its image decorated the pennons of GILEAD. Although in Wizard and Glass we were told that Arthur Eld’s unifying sword was entombed in a pyramid after the Eld’s death, in the final book of the Dark Tower series we discover that it must have been the hilt that was entombed, since Roland’s gun barrels were forged from the metal of that blade. As well as his guns, the young Roland carried another heirloom from the times of Eld—his ancestor’s horn. Unluckily for him, Roland let his friend CUTHBERT ALLGOOD blow the Horn of Eld at the battle of JERICHO HILL, and Roland left it on the battlefield where it tumbled from Cuthbert’s dead hand, an oversight which he later comes to regret.
All descendants of Arthur Eld, as well as their gunslinger-knights, are sworn to uphold the Way of the Eld (also known as the Way of Eld) at all costs. The Way of Eld designates the proper conduct of gunslingers. It refers to their rigorous physical and mental training as well as to their sense of honor and duty. According to the Way of Eld, gunslingers must help those in distress if it is within their power to do so. According to FATHER CALLAHAN’s books, they were forbidden to take reward.
Sometime during his long and eventful life, Arthur Eld must have had sexual relations with a demon of some sort, since the CRIMSON KING is also his descendant. This is not so surprising, since Mid-World is full of SPEAKING RINGS, LESSER DEMONS OF THE PRIM, and wily DEMON ELEMENTALS, all of whom are able to cast powerful glammer. In the final three books of the Dark Tower series, we see the two bloodlines of the Eld—of GAN and Gilead, and of the PRIM and the AM—reunited in the body of MORDRED DESCHAIN, son of two fathers and two mothers.
Although the human line of Eld serves the White, the demonic line of Eld serves the Outer Dark. Both bloodlines are obsessed with the Tower, which is their birthright, yet while the line of Deschain is sworn to preserve it, the Red King and his son—the dan-tete, or little king—have pledged to destroy it.
It seems likely that the Eld’s two bloodlines—destined to battle each other—have each developed their own distinct mythologies about their ancestor. While in her dream-version of CASTLE DISCORDIA’s BANQUETING HALL, SUSANNAH-MIO sees a screen, which depicts a heroic Arthur Eld charging through a swamp with three of his knight-gunslingers behind him, the corpse of the dangerous snake SAITA around his neck. Yet in the DIXIE PIG, a blasphemous tapestry depicts Arthur Eld and his court feasting on human flesh.
Not only do Arthur Eld’s two bloodlines present two different views of the Eld, but the people of Mid-World also seem to have two versions of their greatest hero. The mythical Eld was the first king to arise after the Prim receded, hence he predated the time of the GREAT OLD ONES. The historical Arthur Eld lived approximately seven hundred years—or thirty generations—before Roland’s birth. Perhaps Mid-World’s King Arthur was, like the ARTHUR of our world, both the once and future king. Although born in an ancient world, he never died but only lay sleeping. After the Great Old Ones’ terrible disasters, his people needed him and so he returned.
IV:171 (picture in Travellers’ Rest. “ARGYOU NOT ABOUT THE HAND YOU ARE DEALT IN CARDS OR LIFE”), IV:181, IV:183–84 (and Steven Deschain), IV:194 (“he of the white horse . . .”), IV:206 (Excalibur and the Affiliation), IV:211 (tapestry in Seafront. Sword entombed in a pyramid), IV:223 (40 gillies), IV:251, IV:267–71, IV:302 (“fantastic pride” of his line), IV:317 (Excalibur and crown of All-World), IV:350, IV:360 (Jewels of Eld), IV:379, IV:382, IV:508, IV:558 (Roland as Arthur Eld), IV:563, IV:580, E:206, V:30–31, V:73, V:110 (line of Eld), V:128 (line of), V:153, V:156 (way of Eld), V:162 (Eld’s way), V:170 (horn), V:171, V:172 (horn), V:181 (way of Eld), V:203, V:215 (line of), V:216, V:236, V:238, V:240 (horn), V:284 (horn only), V:321, V:324, V:333, V:373, V:388, V:410, V:497, V:542, V:567, V:605, V:609, V:624, V:686, V:709, VI:15, VI:39, VI:110, VI:111 (Arthur Eld), VI:135 (Lost Beasts of), VI:177, VI:183, VI:197, VI:252, VI:371–73 (tapestry), VII:26, VII:50, VII:51, VII:111, VII:168, VII:176, VII:199, VII:253, VII:322, VII:473, VII:499, VII:501, VII:512, VII:549, VII:608, VII:766, VII:780, VII:791, VII:799, VII:800, VII:801, VII:819 (horn), VII:820, VII:821, VII:822, VII:825 (horn), W:48, W:60, W:66, W:103, W:131, W:169, W:197, W:268
COUNCIL OF ELD: See GILEAD CHARACTERS
ELD OF THE ELD: Roland and his father Steven are the true descendants of Arthur Eld, hence they are the Eld of the Eld. W:60
ELD’S LAST FELLOWSHIP: A tapestry located in the DIXIE PIG depicts Eld’s Last Fellowship. However, the feast it shows is a horrible parody of Eld and his knights’ final meal. Instead of eating meat and drinking wine, Eld, his wife, and his followers are shown to be eating human flesh and drinking human blood. VII:6, VII:8, VII:10, VII:26 (named), VII:28
EXCALIBUR: Like the blade carried by our world’s mythical King Arthur, Arthur Eld’s sword was called Excalibur. The barrels of Roland’s sandalwood-handled guns were cast from the metal of this blade. VII:608
HORN OF ELD: The horn which has been passed from father to son from the time of Arthur Eld to the time of Roland Deschain. Unfortunately, Roland left the Horn of Eld (also called the Horn of Deschain) next to CUTHBERT ALLGOOD’s dead body on the battlefield of JERICHO HILL. (For page references, see main entry.)
LLAMREI: Arthur Eld’s white horse. Llamrei’s image was the sigul of all IN-WORLD and decorated the pennons of GILEAD. In the office of RICHARD P. SAYRE, located in the FEDIC DOGAN, Roland and SUSANNAH come across a painting of a young boy (probably MORDRED) standing triumphantly over the dead body of Llamrei, his foot on the horse’s corpse. VII:549, VII:550, VII:780
LOST BEASTS OF ELD: The Lost Beasts of Eld were flying creatures. They may have resembled dragons. VI:135
MAGIC TALES OF THE ELD: When Roland was a bo
y, he loved this volume of stories above all others. His mother, GABRIELLE DESCHAIN, often read it to him just before he went to sleep in his high tower bedroom. The book contained a dozen hand-colored woodcut illustrations, but Rolands’ favorite was of six bumblers sitting on a fallen tree in the forest, beneath a crescent moon, their snouts raised. This story was from the tale “The Wind Through the Keyhole.” W:14
ROWENA, QUEEN: Arthur Eld’s lady-wife. In the blasphemous tapestry found in the DIXIE PIG, Queen Rowena is depicted drinking a goblet of blood. VI:371–73
SAITA: While MIA, daughter of none, searches for food in the deserted BANQUETING HALL located in her dream-version of CASTLE DISCORDIA, she sees a screen depicting Arthur Eld riding through a swamp with three of his knight-gunslingers behind him. Around his neck is Saita, the great snake, which he has just slain. V:373
SWORD OF ELD: See EXCALIBUR, listed above
THREE WIVES OF THE ELD: According to the COVENANT MAN of The Wind Through the Keyhole, Arthur Eld had three wives. These three women gave the Eld many sons, but there were moity-more born on the dark side of the blanket. (Arthur Eld was a busy man.) W:268
TRADITION OF THE ELD: The tradition of the Eld is the Way of the Gun, in which all apprentice gunslingers are trained. W:36
ELD, COUNCIL OF
See GILEAD’S COUNCIL OF ELD
ELI
See CHAMBERS, JAKE: CHARACTERS JAKE MEETS WHEN HE RUNS AWAY TO THE LOT, TO BROOKLYN, AND TO MID-WORLD
ELLEN
See SERENITY, SISTERS OF
ELURIA CHARACTERS
After the fall of GILEAD but before he managed to track down his enemy, the MAN IN BLACK, Roland traveled through Eluria, a small town located in the far west of MID-WORLD. Eluria is the setting for the story “The Little Sisters of Eluria.”
Like so many Mid-World villages, Eluria resembles one of the tumbleweed towns of the Old West. When Roland arrived, it seemed to be deserted save for a CROSS DOG (also known as a JESUS DOG), a single corpse, some SLOW MUTANTS (called the GREEN FOLK), and some strangely disturbing singing insects. After being attacked by the Green Folk, an injured Roland finds himself in the hospital-tent of the glammer-throwing LITTLE SISTERS OF ELURIA—a tribe of female vampires posing as healers. Roland falls in love with SISTER JENNA, the youngest of these strange demonic women, and she, in turn, betrays her sisters in order to help him escape.
ELURIA CHARACTERS:
BOUNCER OF THE BUSTLING PIG: By the time Roland reaches Eluria, the only sign of this man is his nail-spiked club, wielded by one of the GREEN FOLK. E:154
CAM TAM (DOCTOR BUGS): The vampiric Little Sisters pose as a religious order of hospitalers. Hence, the doctor bugs—which are only a little smaller than fat honeybees—are an important part of their disguise.
Unlike the carrion-eating GRANDFATHER FLEAS, and despite the Little Sisters’ evil habits, these insects are actually healers. Although ugly and disturbing to watch, the cam tam eat disease and knit broken bones. E:146, E:147–48, E:152, E:158, E:159, E:164, E:168, E:169–73, E:174, E:178, E:179, E:180, E:183, E:185, E:193, E:197, E:198–201, E:202, E:206, E:208–9, VI:234
CHAS: A freeborn cattle thief destined to be tried in Eluria. However, the Little Sisters get to the town first. E:151
CROSS DOG/JESUS DOG: The Cross Dog takes its name from the black cross upon its white chest fur. This coloration oddity saves its life, since the vampiric Little Sisters can’t touch it. Despite its superficial relation to religious good, this crippled animal is a rather unpleasant creature. In fact, the first time Roland sees it, it is chewing on the bloated leg of dead JAMES NORMAN. At the end of the story, the Jesus Dog redeems itself by attacking the evil SISTER MARY. It kills her. E:151–53, E:155, E:156, E:159, E:160, E:182, E:204–5, E:207
GREEN FOLK: Like many other tribes of SLOW MUTANTS, the Green Folk are the descendants of human men and women exposed to the OLD ONES’ toxic pollutants. In the case of the Green Folk, the poison was radium. In fact, Roland is fairly certain that the ones who attack him still hide from sunlight in the old radium mines.
Despite their unnerving color and their tallowy skin, these shuffling, snuffling, fluorescent green Slow Mutants have a more human shape than the group Roland and JAKE meet under the CYCLOPEAN MOUNTAINS. (Roland thinks of the latter tribe as both animate corpses and toadstools with brains.) Like other Slow Mutants, the Green Folk sometimes eat human flesh. For more information on Slow Mutants, see entry under MUTANTS. E:146, E:151, E:154–58, E:160, E:162, E:171, E:173, E:177, E:178–79, E:193, E:205
LUMPY BALD HEAD WITH RED SIZZLING SORES: E:154–58
MALE WITH MELTED CANDLEWAX FACE: E:154
MR. CLUB-WITH-NAILS: This creature probably stole his nasty weapon from THE BUSTLING PIG’S dead BOUNCER. E:154–58, E:159
MR. TOAD: Mr. Toad looks like a toad-mouthed troll. E:155–56 (shot)
RALPH: One-eyed Ralph wears a bowler hat and red suspenders. He is one of the mutants who attacks Roland soon after his arrival in Eluria. While Roland is their patient/prisoner, the Little Sisters try to bribe Ralph into removing JOHN NORMAN’s Christian medallion from around Roland’s neck. It seems likely that Ralph is the leader of his tribe. E:155–58, E:179, E:190–92, E:193
RED VEST WOMAN: Her saggy breasts are visible beneath her vest. E:155–58, E:179
SMASHER: He gave Roland’s guns to the Little Sisters without telling Ralph. E:192
TWO-HEADED MALE: This nasty creature sneaks up behind Roland and mounts a surprise attack. Roland shoots him. E:157 (shot), E:174
LITTLE SISTERS OF ELURIA: See ELURIA, LITTLE SISTERS OF, listed separately
NORMAN, JAMES: James Norman was a young, towheaded cowboy of about fourteen to sixteen. He was the brother of JOHN NORMAN and the son of JESSE NORMAN. Roland comes across his drowned corpse early in his wanderings around Eluria. James wore a medallion that read “James, Loved of Family, Loved of God.” SISTER JENNA places it around our gunslinger’s neck and Roland continues to wear it throughout his time among the Sisters. They cannot bleed him while he wears it. E:146, E:151–58, E:162, E:164 (medallion), E:172, E:176 (Roland poses as James), E:177, E:178–79, E:184 (Roland), E:185 (Roland), E:188, E:189, E:193, E:194, E:196
NORMAN, JASON (“JASON, BROTHER OF JOHN”): The Little Sisters call Roland “Jason, Brother of John” to trick him into proving he is not really JAMES NORMAN. Roland doesn’t fall for the trick. E:184
NORMAN, JESSE: Father of John and James. E:176, E:188
NORMAN, MRS.: Mother of John and James. Wife of Jesse. E:162, E:176, E:188
NORMAN, JOHN: John Norman is the brother of JAMES NORMAN, and occupies the bed next to Roland’s in the LITTLE SISTERS’ hospital tent. John warns Roland about the Sisters’ evil natures. Like his brother James, John wears a Christian medallion around his neck. The Sisters eventually force one of the GREEN FOLK to tear it from him. E:162–64, E:168, E:172, E:176–80, E:181, E:183, E:184, E:186, E:187, E:188, E:190–92, E:193, E:194, E:196–97, E:199, E:202, E:205
SHERIFF: By the time Roland reaches Eluria, the sheriff had long since disappeared. Like everyone else in the town, he was probably drained dry by the Little Sisters. E:150, E:155
UNCONSCIOUS MAN: Roland sees this unconscious man dangling from a white sling in the LITTLE SISTERS’ hospital tent. Like JAMES and JOHN NORMAN, this unfortunate fellow was attacked by the GREEN FOLK while protecting a long-haul caravan and was later given to the Little Sisters. This man never completely regains consciousness while under the Sisters’ care. They drink his blood anyway. E:162–64, E:169–71, E:180–81, E:183, E:198
ELURIA, LITTLE SISTERS OF
This tribe of vampires poses as a holy order of hospital nuns. They dress in billowing white habits and their crones’ faces are framed by white wimples. Hanging from the bands of silk imprisoning their hair are lines of tiny bells which chime when the Sisters move or speak. Upon the breast of each of their habits is embroidered a single, blood-red ROSE—the sigul of the DARK TOWER. Roland barely escapes the S
isters’ deadly clutches. A few of their order are still wandering around MID-WORLD.
These strange sorceresses are not actually human. When Roland grabs SISTER MARY by the throat he finds her flesh repellent. It doesn’t feel like solid flesh at all but something both various and flowing.
In their true form, the Little Sisters look like the ghastly siblings of RHEA OF THE CÖOS, the ancient hag-witch we met in Wizard and Glass. Like Rhea, they are creatures of magic and can cast a glammer which makes them appear young and lovely. But this illusion fades quickly, especially when they are hungry. Like their own loveliness, the airy white silk pavilion in which they keep their victims—first to cure them, then to bleed them—is only a glammer. In reality it is a fraying canvas tent. The only truly beautiful creature ever existent in the dream-realm woven by the Little Sisters is SISTER JENNA, a twenty-one-year-old woman bound to these others by the cruelty of ka.
The Little Sisters are a strange order, and the reader cannot help but wonder whether they, like the mutants of Mid-World, were originally something good. The Rose the Sisters wear upon their habits is a sigul not only of the Dark Tower but of the WHITE. Similarly, their cam tam are healers, even though they are disturbing to watch.
As we know, not all things that serve a higher purpose are comfortable to contemplate. The dark bells which Sister Jenna wears, and which Roland thinks are the true sigul of the order, are described as charry. Since the High Speech root-word char means death, it seems likely that these quasi-mortal women were originally death-angels, or beings meant to help men avoid (or less painfully reach) death. Perhaps, as Sister Jenna says, before the world moved on, they really were an order of hospitalers, albeit supernatural ones. But sadly, the evil of the Great Old Ones poisoned not only the air and water of Mid-World, but the magic as well. Although they may have begun as creatures of the White, the evil Little Sisters now have cause to fear all religious siguls, even their own dark bells.
