The Grammar of Rivers: Amal El-Mahter’s “The River Has Roots”

“There is grammar that is ruled like a kingdom, and grammar that is ruled like a composition book, and there is always, always the wild, unruly grammar of ballads and riddles…”

In Amal El-Mahter’s lyrical novella, The River Has Roots, the River Liss brims with grammar. Two willow trees on either side of the river, known as the Professors, are also grammarians. The river conjugates: “She runs; she ran; she will run.”

Naturally, this concept left me breathless, because grammar always seems magical to me.

This exquisite little book is an adult fairy tale. Two sisters, Esther and Ysabel Hawthorn, sing ballads to the Professors. The Hawthorn family tends the willow trees, and it is also their job to sing to them. The sisters have beautiful voices: “Their voices threaded through each other like the warp and weft of fine cloth…” Esther favors puzzle ballads, while Ysabel likes murder ballads.

Of course there is a romance. What is a faery tale is without romance? A faery named Rin, who lives in nearby Arcadia, falls in love with Esther. Faeries can play instruments, but they cannot sing.

Naturally, there is a conflict with a rival suitor, whom Esther despises. To put it bluntly, this avaricious man does not respect the grammar of faeries, willows, or the river.

This is, I think, a brilliant fable that that reminds us of the importance of rivers and trees. In the 21st century, perhaps grammar is lost.

In 2019, S. Keyron McDermott, a former substitute teacher, wrote an editorial about getting fired for teaching grammar. This resonates, because I was once chided for teaching grammar in an adult class. Fortunately, my students told me they wanted to learn grammar.

Not so for McDermott. She writes,

.”.. what students apparently objected to was me handing back their papers, hectoring them about language errors. I told them unapologetically, ‘This is your native language, people! Second grade mistakes — not distinguishing between ‘your’ and ‘you’re,’ misspelling ex(c)ercise, leaving off caps and periods — from freshmen and sophomores are unacceptable…”

I find it impossible to understand why the parents didn’t side with the teacher. Grammar is essential to patterns of decoding language and meaning. El-Mahter’s lovely fable encourages us to rethink the importance of culture and nature.