New to the boards, seeking definition "Dycian Maze" p 340 "The Wastelands"

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Anubis013

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Jul 6, 2015
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I just joined as I've just finised re-reading "The Wastelands" and came across a passage that contained the phrase "Dycian Maze." on pg 340.

I have scoured the internet, looked through several dictionaries and cannot find a definition. I have consulted several other word fiends and they have no clue either.

What I have discovered is that there was a heavy metal band, briefly, in the UK called "Dycian Maze" well after the book was published (2008), and I also found the term "Dycian theory" mentioned in an Edinburgh publication online that didn't make a lick of sense or allow me to extract a meaning.

Does anyone have any clue to what "Dycian Maze" is, what the term "Dycian" refers to or comes from? My initial suspicion was that it was a Greek mythology reference but I haven't found one.

The portion of the book is when Gasher has just taken Jake into see the Tick-Tock Man and Roland and Oy are approaching the sealed door.

Here is the entire sentence:

"And, just as then reached the shaft which led to the lower levels of this Dycian Maze, Roland had heard the sound of some new machine-a pump of some sort, perhaps-followed by the metallic, echoing crash of a door being slammed shut."

Any help would be appreciated. While we have a working definition based on the context, I have never been so foiled in my attempts to discern the actual meaning of a word or phrase. In advance, thank you.
 

FlakeNoir

Original Kiwi© SKMB®
Moderator
Apr 11, 2006
44,082
175,641
New Zealand
I just joined as I've just finised re-reading "The Wastelands" and came across a passage that contained the phrase "Dycian Maze." on pg 340.

I have scoured the internet, looked through several dictionaries and cannot find a definition. I have consulted several other word fiends and they have no clue either.

What I have discovered is that there was a heavy metal band, briefly, in the UK called "Dycian Maze" well after the book was published (2008), and I also found the term "Dycian theory" mentioned in an Edinburgh publication online that didn't make a lick of sense or allow me to extract a meaning.

Does anyone have any clue to what "Dycian Maze" is, what the term "Dycian" refers to or comes from? My initial suspicion was that it was a Greek mythology reference but I haven't found one.

The portion of the book is when Gasher has just taken Jake into see the Tick-Tock Man and Roland and Oy are approaching the sealed door.

Here is the entire sentence:

"And, just as then reached the shaft which led to the lower levels of this Dycian Maze, Roland had heard the sound of some new machine-a pump of some sort, perhaps-followed by the metallic, echoing crash of a door being slammed shut."

Any help would be appreciated. While we have a working definition based on the context, I have never been so foiled in my attempts to discern the actual meaning of a word or phrase. In advance, thank you.
Hiya, I haven't been able to find anything either, I'm wondering if it might just be a Stephen Special?
 

Neesy

#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
May 24, 2012
61,289
239,271
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
I just joined as I've just finised re-reading "The Wastelands" and came across a passage that contained the phrase "Dycian Maze." on pg 340.

I have scoured the internet, looked through several dictionaries and cannot find a definition. I have consulted several other word fiends and they have no clue either.

What I have discovered is that there was a heavy metal band, briefly, in the UK called "Dycian Maze" well after the book was published (2008), and I also found the term "Dycian theory" mentioned in an Edinburgh publication online that didn't make a lick of sense or allow me to extract a meaning.

Does anyone have any clue to what "Dycian Maze" is, what the term "Dycian" refers to or comes from? My initial suspicion was that it was a Greek mythology reference but I haven't found one.

The portion of the book is when Gasher has just taken Jake into see the Tick-Tock Man and Roland and Oy are approaching the sealed door.

Here is the entire sentence:

"And, just as then reached the shaft which led to the lower levels of this Dycian Maze, Roland had heard the sound of some new machine-a pump of some sort, perhaps-followed by the metallic, echoing crash of a door being slammed shut."

Any help would be appreciated. While we have a working definition based on the context, I have never been so foiled in my attempts to discern the actual meaning of a word or phrase. In advance, thank you.

I am probably overcomplicating things here, but maybe it is a play on words??

"In The Birth of Tragedy, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche discusses two artistic impulses: the Apollonian (named for Apollo, the god of the sun) and the Dionysian (named for Dionysus, the god of wine and revelry). The Apollonian impulse is one toward rational order, stasis, and restraint. The Dionysian impulse, conversely, is one toward instinctual drive, movement, and the dissolution of boundaries."

Sorry - that is all I could come up with at this time. - Don't overanalyze everything - just carry on and enjoy the reading! :cheerful:
 

bobledrew

Inveterate yammerer
May 13, 2010
2,782
1,924
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
I went through Robin Furth's concordance and Bev Vincent's "Road to the Dark Tower", and I got nuthin. Also did a cursory run through Wind Through The Keyhole to see if it's in there somewhere, and still nuthin. I suspect that there may be a place in Ves ka-gan's head called Dycia that we haven't yet seen. I, for one, am buying Dycia.net ASAP.
 

Kurben

The Fool on the Hill
Apr 12, 2014
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could it be a play on dicyan? That is colourless, possible lethal gas. Just a thought since he also mention shafts and pumps and doors slamming shut. A kind of remodeling the word to hint that this maze could be lethal without actually saying it? Don't know of course.
 

Machine's Way

“Go then, there are other worlds than these.”
Jul 13, 2009
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Sounds like you need to get to one of those rare Stephen King speaking events, and when its time for Q&A get up there in front of the microphone fast, and ask the man himself. Should be a much more interesting question than all the lame crap that gets ask over and over again.

(I personally hate the q&a part of these events, I would much rather hear 30 or 40 more mins of SK speaking than answering "what scares you" and "How did you get the idea for _______" )
 

carrie's younger brother

Well-Known Member
Mar 8, 2012
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Sounds like you need to get to one of those rare Stephen King speaking events, and when its time for Q&A get up there in front of the microphone fast, and ask the man himself. Should be a much more interesting question than all the lame crap that gets ask over and over again.

(I personally hate the q&a part of these events, I would much rather hear 30 or 40 more mins of SK speaking than answering "what scares you" and "How did you get the idea for _______" )

Well, maybe to those people asking those particular questions, that's what interests them and what they want to know.
 

Machine's Way

“Go then, there are other worlds than these.”
Jul 13, 2009
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Well, maybe to those people asking those particular questions, that's what interests them and what they want to know.

I understand that and for the most part respect that. I was being mild with the examples, some people get up there and the things they say and kill time with is mind boggling sometimes.
 
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carrie's younger brother

Well-Known Member
Mar 8, 2012
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NJ
I understand that and for the most part respect that. I was being mild with the examples, some people get up there and the things they say and kill time with is mind boggling sometimes.
Fair enough; I respect that.
But... Just playing devil's advocate here: If someone got up at a SK talk and asked what the "Dycian Maze" was I would find that a "mind boggling" question myself. :wink-new:
 
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