The Dark Tower Companion: A Guide to Stephen King’s Epic Fantasy (80 page)

K
AMMEN
(5, 6, 7)

The chimes people hear when they go todash or when their todash journey is about to end. Also known as todash bells. The notes sound beautiful at first, but soon become so hideous and painful that each chime seems to make a person's head burst and his bones vibrate. They also sound when Black Thirteen is awake. The Manni name for the Doorway Cave is Kra Kammen, which means House of Ghosts.

K
AS-KA
G
AN
(7)

The prophets or singers of Gan. Artists who translate the word of Gan into their art.

K
AVEN
(6)

The persistence of magic, an important concept for the Manni.

K
EN
/K
ENNIT
(1, 4, 4.5, 5, 6, 7, M)

To know, as in “Do you kennit?”

K
ES
(7)

The strength of a Beam.

K
HEF
(1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

Life force. The word means many things in the original tongue of the Old World: water, birth and life force are a few of them. Roland uses it to mean a closeness and sharing of thoughts among members of a
ka-tet
. Minds
consulting via something so elemental it couldn't rightly be called telepathy. “Sharing
khef
,” also known as the sharing of water, is a kind of palaver and storytelling, and is part of what
ka-tet
means.
Khef
can be shared only by those whom destiny has welded together, for good or for ill. Before the battle at Algul Siento, Roland turns this into a communion-like ritual.

K
HEF-MATE
(3)

A term Eddie uses in reference to Roland. As such, it may not have any true meaning.

K
I'BOX
(5, 7)

Asshole (shitbox). A metaphor for a person's baser functions.

K
I'CAN
(7)

Shit-people.

K
I'COME
(7)

Bullshit. Utter nonsense.

K
I'-DAM
(7)

Shit for brains.

K
ILLIN
(5)

An undefined insult. “Ye foolish killin.”

K
RA
(5, 6, M)

A Manni's cabin. Also his circle of friends.

K
RA-TEN
(6, M)

A Manni village or community.

L
ET EVIL WAIT FOR THE DAY ON WHICH IT MUST FALL
(5)

A Gilead saying.

L
IFE FOR YOUR CROPS
(1, 4, 6)

Usually said after spitting on the ground.

L
IMBIT
(4.5)

A unit of temperature.

L
ONG DAYS AND PLEASANT NIGHTS
(1, 4, 4.5, 5, 6, 7)

A traditional greeting. According to Roland, it is associated more with Gilead than with rural communities. The traditional answer is, “And may you have twice the number.”

L
OOKS TO THE HORIZON
(6)

A unit of distance equal to about thirty-three wheels.

M
ADRIGAL
(5)

A yellow herb. A cash crop grown in the southern Callas.

M
ANDRUS
(3)

A disease like syphilis. Also known as whore's blossoms.

M
A'SUN
(7)

War chest. Applied to the cache of arms Ted Brautigan prepares for Roland.

M
AY YOUR DAYS BE LONG UPON THE EARTH
(4, 4.5, 6)

A traditional greeting.

M
IA
(5)

An almost holy name that means “mother” in the High Speech.

M
INGO
(4)

A crop cultivated in Mejis.

M
IR
(3)

The Old People's name for Shardik. They believed he was a demon incarnate, or the shadow of a god. The name means “the world beneath the world.”

M
OIT
(4.5, 5, 7)

A small number or amount of something. Five or six.

M
OLLY
(4, 4.5, 6)

Woman or female.

M
UFFIN-BALLS
(5)

Edible ground berries the size of tennis balls. Their horns are sour. Fried with fat, they taste like meat. They sometimes bring about lively dreams.

N
EN
(4.5)

A burning liquor. The Covenant Man gave some to Tim Ross to settle him down.

O
GGAN
(5, 6, 7)

Smooth-packed dirt used for a road surface.

O
POPANAX
(5)

The ancient lacquered feather used by the people of Calla Bryn Sturgis to call a meeting. The person holding the large billowy feather during the meeting has the floor.

Crossovers to Other Works:
The word also appears in
The Plant
and
Black House
, though it refers to other things. In the real world, the word refers to a kind of aromatic plant resin that hardens into a gum.

P
AREY
(4)

A crop cultivated in Mejis.

P
ETTIBONE
(4)

An alcoholic drink.

P
OKEBERRIES
(1, 5, 6, 7)

A fruit with orange skin and a golden interior.

P
OKIE
(4.5)

A wandering cowboy not signed to any particular ranch.

P
OOKY
(4.5)

An enormous reddish snake that dwells in the Endless Forest. Its spade-shaped head is as large as a skillet. They have poisonous fangs that paralyze victims before they are devoured. The final form the skin-man in Debaria takes on.

P
OPKINS
(L, 1, 2, 4, 4.5, 5, 7)

Sandwiches. We know of tooter-fish (tuna) and shannie popkins.

P
ORIN
(5)

A spice of great worth.

P
RODDIE
(4.5)

A hired hand at a ranch.

P
UBE
(L, 7, M)

A young person. The people in Lud adopted this word to describe their faction.

P
ULLS
(5)

Cornshuck wraps used to roll cigarettes.

R
OONT
(5, 6, 7)

Calla Bryn Sturgis term meaning “ruined” that describes the condition of the children who come back after the Wolves take them. The changes depend on how old the child is, but in general they are mentally, emotionally and developmentally retarded and sexually dead. At about the age of sixteen, they suddenly grow to enormous size, a painful process. When they reach their thirties, they become old quickly and die young. The word is pronounced the same way as it is by people like John Cullum from central Maine.

R
USSEL
(2)

To take a woman by force.

R
USTIES
(4.5, 5, 6)

Swallows or giant blackbirds. Also known as bin-rusties.

S
AI
(T
HROUGHOUT
)

A form of address, like “sir” or “mister” or “ma'am.”

S
ALIG
(4)

A swamp animal akin to a crocodile or alligator. Long green things with big teeth.

S
ALTIES
(4.5)

Miners in the salt mines near Debaria.

S
ANDAY
(4)

A day of the week. The traditional cowboys' day of rest in Hambry.

S
CRIP
(6)

A lawyer.

S
ELLIAN
(3)

A language dialect, one of five that Roland knows how to speak. He claims to have forgotten most Sellian except for the curse words.

S
EMINON
(5, 6)

A windstorm that occurs in the Callas before true winter. They arise in the east in the desert between the Callas and Thunderclap. Often, they turn back when they reach the Whye River. Though there's probably a good meteorological reason for this behavior, the locals believe that Lord Seminon begs Lady Oriza to make him welcome when he reaches the water, and she often bars his passage out of jealousy because Seminon married her sister and Lady Oriza wanted him for herself.

S
EPPE-SAI
(5, M)

Death dealer. The man who sold pies in the market in Gilead acquired that name because his wares made people ill. Roland is the last seppe-sai.

S
ET MY WATCH AND WARRANT ON/UPON/TO IT
(1, 3, 4, 4.5, 5, 6, 7)

I guarantee it.

S
HADDIE
(4.5)

A piece of canvas, like a tarpaulin.

S
HANNIE
(4.5)

An edible fish caught in the River Whye.

S
HARPROOT
(1, 4, 5)

A vegetable crop cultivated in Mejis and Calla Bryn Sturgis. The bright magenta roots of the green vine are edible. Roland used the roots to test the Sisters of Oriza's skills.

S
HEEVIN OR
S
HIVEEN
(4, 5)

Another word for gilly. It refers to a whore who considers herself too good to provide service in trade and requires payment in coin. It is also translated as “quiet little woman,” or “side wife.”

S
HUME
(4.5)

An old Mid-World term that means both shame and sorrow. Related to
ka-shume
, a sense of dread about impending events.

S
IGUL
(L, 3, 4, 4.5, 5, 6, 7, M)

A sign or logo or omen.

S
IMOOM
(4.5)

A strong wind.

S
KIDDUM
(4.5)

A shack where some salt miners live. Most miners live in the mouths of the caves themselves. These shacks offer little but have the virtue of not being underground.

S
LAGGITT
(5)

A curse word in Calla Bryn Sturgis.

S
LEWFEET
(5)

Unskilled trackers.

S
LINKUM
(4.5, 7)

An old man's strap-style white undershirt.

S
LOWKINS
(4.5)

Slow. Cort says that Roland is slowkins from the eyebrows up.

S
NICK
(4.5)

Clever or cagey.

S
OH
(4.5, 5, 6, 7)

Boy. Often used by itself, but sometimes appended to the end (Jake-soh) or front of a name (Soh Vikka).

S
PARKLIGHTS
(1, 4, 4.5, 5)

Electric lights with filaments. A few still worked in Gilead, but the last one burned out in Hambry two generations ago.

S
PECIE
(4.5)

Hard currency.

S
PRIGGUM
(5)

One of the ingredients in Rosalita's cure for Roland's dry twist. It comes from the swamp.

S
TEM
(5)

A businessman like Moses Carver.

S
TUFFY-GUYS
(4, 5)

Scarecrows. Traditionally, their hands are painted red and they're thrown into the Reap-Night Bonfire. This is a surviving remnant of the generations-old charyou tree ritual where people were burned as a sacrifice to the gods.

T
ACK-SEE
(3, 5, 7)

Roland's interpretation of the word “taxi.”

T
AKE A RIDE ON THE HANDSOME
(3)

Die.

T
ELAMEI
(5)

To gossip about someone you shouldn't gossip about.

T
EMPA
(6)

A Manni meeting hall.

T
ET
(3, 4.5, 5, 7)

A group of people.

T
ET-FA
(4.5)

Friend of the tet.

T
ET-KA CAN GAN
(7)

Navel.

T
HANKEE-SAI
(T
HROUGHOUT
)

Thank you.

T
HERE ARE OTHER
(
MORE
)
WORLDS THAN THESE
(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

The last thing Jake says to Roland before the gunslinger abandons him to his death beneath the mountains while pursuing the man in black. Roland comes to believe that it's one of the most important things anyone has ever said to him. The phrase is repeated throughout as the
ka-tet
realizes the importance of other universes to their quest.

T
HERE WILL BE WATER IF GOD WILLS IT
(1, 3, 4, 4.5, 5, 7, M)

A proverb that means something will happen if it is destined to happen. Analogous to putting your faith in
ka
.

T
HIDDLES
(7)

Buttocks.

T
HROCKEN
(4.5, 7)

Another name for a billy-bumbler. Roland first heard this word in a book read to him by his mother,
The Throcken and the Dragon
. To see one is considered good luck.

T
HROCKET
(4.5)

A group of billy-bumblers.

T
HROG
(5)

Three ways.