We investigate the dispersion relations for light coupled to one-dimensional ensembles of atoms with different level schemes. The unifying feature of all the considered setups is that the forward and backward propagating quantum fields are coupled by the applied classical drives such that the group velocity can vanish in an effect known as “stationary light.” We derive the dispersion relations for all the considered schemes, highlighting the important differences between them. Furthermore, we show that additional control of stationary light can be obtained by treating atoms as discrete scatterers and placing them at well-defined positions. For the latter purpose, a multimode transfer matrix theory for light is developed.