Gabrielle Deschain is the mother of Roland and the wife of Steven Deschain, whom she married at sixteen. Her maiden name is Gabrielle Verriss and is sometimes referred to as Gabrielle-of-the-Waters or Gabrielle of Arten. She sang the Baby-Bunting Rhyme to Roland when he was a child, which is where he first heard the word "chassit" and the early years of her marriage passed smoothly as she raised her son, tended to Steven and became acquainted with the aristocracy; the people of Gilead grew to love her.