Roland's Age

[ShadowtheDragon]

Hello,

Sorry if this question has been answered before, I did a search on the board and couldn't find the answer to it so I decided to make a new thread. Anywho: does anybody know where I can find the page (I believe it was either in Wizard & Glass or Wolves of the Calla) where Roland tells his ka-tet how long it took him to cross the Mohaine Desert and about how old he is? I've skimmed through both books for a few hours and couldn't find it anywhere, but I clearly remember it being mentioned somewhere. Thanks in advanced, and please forgive my newb-ness.

[Moderator]

In Robin Furth's The Dark Tower: The Complete Concordance, there is a segment titled A Brief History of Mid-World in which she states that Roland would be in his late 30s or 40s. Approximately three hundred years passed while he was doing a Rip van Winkle after his encounter with Walter but he appeared to have aged only about 10 years and was 36 years old when it happened.

[Crimson Door]

i'm sure in the wastelands when roland was talking about how the world seemed to be expanding he said that originally it was roughly 1000 miles or wheels from gilead to the western see but it had taken him 20 years to cross that distance.

[sam peebles]

But prior to his palaver with the Man in Black and his long sleep, and although he appears to go from his thirties to forties, I thought Roland wandered through the desert and Mid World for centuries. Maybe I'm wrong in that, I don't remember where I may have read it.

[Bryan James]

So Long, and thanks for all the adventure. Roland was 42 at the end of #7.

BJS

[ShadowtheDragon]

Yeah, that's what I remember. Either decades or centuries is what he tells his ka-tet in one of the two books. I've read over that section of Robert Furth's concordance quite a few times, and found it very helpful. However, that's one thing that I'm confused about with her timeline, because I still remember Roland saying that somewhere. Oh well, I'll just continue looking. Thanks for your replies.

[Lencho_of_the_Apes]

I think I remember someplace in Wolves Of The Calla where one of the Calla folk said it had been 1000 years since Gilead fell, but I later felt I had probably misunderstood that,, especially after Roland and the tet met up with Sheemie in DT7 . But even if it's only 300 years, what's up with Sheemie , yo?

We all float down here.

[DelvianBlue]

One thing to think about, and it's a major spoiler if you haven't read the end of the series:

Roland repeats his journey from the desert onward over and over and over, but considering what happened to Susannah, it seems to me the rest of the universe moves on without him. Susannah met another Jake and Eddie and got on with her life while Roland was in the Dark Tower, and presumably starting his journey all over again. It's possible he's stuck in a time loop separate from everything else, and its he exclusively that lives those same moments over again while the rest of the world ages. So Gilead could have fallen 1000 years ago to everyone else, but Roland keeps circling back to the desert, never ultimately aging more than he was when he started his journey. If that's true, then he's technically over one thousand years old.

[Ben E Gas]

One thing to think about, and it's a major spoiler if you haven't read the end of the series:

Roland repeats his journey from the desert onward over and over and over, but considering what happened to Susannah, it seems to me the rest of the universe moves on without him. Susannah met another Jake and Eddie and got on with her life while Roland was in the Dark Tower, and presumably starting his journey all over again. It's possible he's stuck in a time loop separate from everything else, and its he exclusively that lives those same moments over again while the rest of the world ages. So Gilead could have fallen 1000 years ago to everyone else, but Roland keeps circling back to the desert, never ultimately aging more than he was when he started his journey. If that's true, then he's technically over one thousand years old.


That's what I had always thought also.

[Lencho_of_the_Apes]

That's one possible way of looking at it, but it still doesn't explain Sheemie.

We all float down here.

[sam peebles]

In the comics, they explain a little more about Sheemie. Apparently after Susan's death, he tried to catch up to Roland and his ka-tet, but somehow wandered into a Dogan-esque lab/bunker, and was attacked by some sort of robot that conducted experiments on him. Afterwards Sheemie was able to teleport, as well as displayed other psychic abilities. He also went into the Pink Grapefruit to save Roland from Flagg and the Crimson King after being trapped inside. Hope this helps explain a little bit of how and why it was possible for Sheemie to be at the Devar-Toi.

[ShadowtheDragon]

I've never thought of it that way, but that's definitely very interesting. I've always wondered about Sheemie too, and just kinda figured we'll figure it out eventually through one of the Marvel comics or something. I'd just assumed it had something to do with when he gained his powers in the Long Road Home, maybe it did something to him to make him age a lot slower.

[Ben E Gas]

Maybe sheemie jumped thru a hole.

[kingricefan]

I remember Roland telling someone (Suzanne maybe?) that he was hundreds of years old too. Or maybe it was Callahan's housekeeper (can't think of her name right now) when they were having some 'after glow' talk??? I think he's hundred's of years old.

[Drawn to Ka-tet]

I believe that Roland is 42 and he has lived more than 700 years ( at least). and I quote, " He had progressed throught the khef over many years, and had reached the fifth level."
Our problem is that we 21st century people think of time as linear- and Roland's time is a loop. Sometimes his life is one loop within another loop - as in his memories that tear him apart in the Waste Lands.
Remember, time has gotten soft in Mid World; as have the directions (N S E W). Everything is shifting and we have trouble understanding Roland's world because it doesn't fit into our beliefs and systems.
So, try not to fret over it. Accept it for what it is, a mystery.
Long days and pleasant nights.

[Bluey Lunger]

wish i could help. looked. can't find it at the moment. i think something like that is there. maybe around the time they're near the emerald palace? or in wolves, before the calla folk arrive? i would have said maybe gunlinger book one but you remember him telling the others, and those times between leaving one big scene and arriving at the other seems like a good shot. guess there's that concordance thingy you could get, seems like a pretty good idea, probably worth spending a few bucks if you got it. if i find it i'll come back atcha.

[ShadowtheDragon]

I think I found what I was looking for. I was a little bit off on how I remembered it, but it's page 74 in the Plume trade paperback edition of The Waste Lands. He basically says that that it was about a thousand miles from Gilead to the Western Sea (he travels the coast of the Western Sea during The Drawing of the Three), which though he mostly road horseback, it still took him over 20 years to cross that distance. Now according to Ms. Furth's timeline in her concordance, Roland visits the ruins of Gilead sometime between age 24 and 36 and then leaves to follow Walter's trail. She says that he is 36 when he meets up with with Walter in the golgotha, which is only about 3 miles or so from the Western Sea. Not counting the 300 years Roland was asleep, since he wasn't traveling, wouldn't that only be about 12 years to travel from Gilead to the Western Sea? Perhaps I'm just overanalysing it, being one of those people trying to find flaws. Oh well, I'm just satisfied I found what I believe I was looking for.

[karend3]

Actually he is older than that because we are first introduced to him in Eyes of the Dragon. Set in Medieval times

[ShadowtheDragon]

The way I understood Eyes of the Dragon is Roland's grandfather is mentioned, and there is a different King Roland. I always kind of assumed maybe Roland was named after the Roland from Eyes of the Dragon.

[Moderator]

That's correct, the Roland in Eyes of the Dragon is not the same Roland that's in the Dark Tower but Flagg is the same character.

[Prince of Darkness]

Hi,

The Crimson King controls glammer in every sense of the word, and if he could prolong the night Walter told Roland about the universe, then why not prolong Roland's aging?

This meaningless speculation, don't mind me. LOL

Long days and pleasant nights

[BlackThorn]

Time has gone extremely wrong in Rolands world.

It is stated at one point, Roland has lived through centuries. Say time is operating like the radiation pockets around the Chernobyl accident, for instance. The radiation and radioactive particles fell and settled into different areas, some of which are extremely toxic now, and others which are nearly (and debatably) settleable again.

In some areas of Rolands world, ten years worth of time could pass, while in another area, it could only be a few months. Roland is said to have walked across time as one who skips across the tips of the waves of time through his journies and travels, thereby bypassing entire generations of man.

Guilead is said to have fallen centuries ago most places Roland goes, everybody gets a little confused and worried when he mentions he was there for the fall.

[costanza]

The beginning of WaG. Eddie is thinking to himself and says something about Roland being 1000 years old. It's right before he plays the silly game with Blaine.

[costanza]

Another in Wolves. The tet is palavering before they meet the Calla folk for the first time. Roland says it's been over 1000 years since Gilead fell.

But as has been said before, time is in drift, and Roland has only aged 20 years or so.