Artists and Illustrations Included in This Record
First Illustration Information
Thoth Tarot. Aleister Crowley and Frieda Lady Harris (artist) (1944. U.S. Games edition, 1978.)
Second Set of Illustrations Information
Top two rows: Cards referred to by Madame Sosostris in T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land"
Bottom row: Additional cards suggested by lines T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land." Pamela Smith (artist) and Arthur Waite (Rider Waite Tarot®. 1909. ©1971 U.S. Games Systems.)
Third Set of Illustrations Information
Pamela Smith (artist) and Arthur Waite. (Rider Waite Tarot®. 1909. ©1971 U.S. Games Systems.)
Fourth Illustration Information
Marseilles Tarot. Grimaud. 1963. Based on designs of the 15th century.
Fifth Set of Illustrations Information
Left: The Book of Thoth (Grand Jeu de Oracle des Dames) (1870. © 2003 Lo Scarebeo)
Right: Pamela Smith (artist) and Arthur Waite. (Rider Waite Tarot®. 1909. ©1971 U.S. Games Systems.)
Sixth Set of Illustrations Information
Pamela Smith (artist) and Arthur Waite. (Rider Waite Tarot®. 1909. ©1971 U.S. Games Systems.)
Seventh Set of Illustrations Information
Etteilla. Grand Etteilla Tarot. B.P. Grimaud, Paris, 1910.
Eighth Set of Illustrations Information
Left: Marseilles Tarot. Grimaud. 1963. Based on designs of the 15th century.
Right: 1JJ Swiss Tarot (© 1972 AGM-Urania/Koenigsfurt-Urania)
Ninth Set of Illustrations Information
Left: Marseilles Tarot. Grimaud. 1963. Based on designs of the 15th century.
Right: Etteilla. Grand Etteilla Taror. B.P. Grimaud, Paris, 1910.
Abstract
Characters and events in King’s Dark Tower series are inspired by the Fisher King, Arthurian, and other mythologies and legends, as well as the works of more contemporary authors who derived inspiration from similar sources. This paper explores King's use of Tarot motifs in the Dark Tower series with attention to similarities and parallels to the presentation of Tarot in T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land. King’s central character Roland, whose cards are read by his nemesis, has the satisfaction of knowing when the cartomancer is dead and of saving multiple universes, but then discovers that he is doomed to keep saving those universes over and over again.
