Who is Covenant Man?

The Covenant Man is a tax collector who visits the village of Tree after Kells marries Nell because he does not believe the story of a dragon attacking Big Ross. After ascertaining that Tim does not like Kells because he beats Nell, the Covenant Man gives Tim a magic key which will open anything once, telling Tim that he will camp down the road for several days if Tim is brave enough to visit him. When Tim meets him in the clearing on Marchly and Cosington's land, the Covenant Man shows Tim his father's corpse and gives him Big Ross's hand ax. He also leaves his magic wand behind for Tim to find and use to see the vision of Maerlyn giving him a cure for Nell's eyes. Widow Smack does not trust the Covenant Man because he has not aged in many years, so she believes he is a black magician. The Covenant Man also leaves a note for Tim outside the Dogan, along with a key for the tiger's cage, and the note is signed RF. This is interesting to note as Roland and his ka-tet travel along the Path of the Beam toward the land of Thunderclap based on a note left behind by RF.