Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 4
Roads that move
Rivers are roads that move and carry us whither we wish to go.
Blaise Pascal (1623-62)
(French mathematician and philosopher)
Rivers have interested humankind for millennia. They feature prominently in many fa-
cets of culture, providing liquid inspiration to diverse sectors of artistic society, from poets
to musicians. The currents of a river have been harnessed not only to embody the bucolic
mysteries of nature but to carry ideas and motifs, and to propel writers into the past. As an
ever-flowing symbol of God's work, the river combines both the spiritual and the physic-
al, offering an insight into humanity's place in the order of things. The long history of the
river's importance to literature and the arts stretches from the poetry of Virgil to the cellu-
loid of Francis Ford Coppola.
Rivers and language
The long, rich cultural relationship with rivers has many interesting linguistic connotations.
The names of numerous rivers are in themselves descriptive. The awe-inspiring scale of flow
seen in some large rivers has simply resulted in them being called 'big' or 'mighty', such as
the Ottawa River in Canada, which derives its name from the Algonquin word. Others are
a bit more graphic. In England, the River Thames' name is believed to come from an Indo-
European word meaning 'dark river'; the River Wellow was winding, the Swift fast-flowing,
and the Cray was pure or clear. Names of Celtic origin abound in Britain: the River Dart is
a Celtic river name meaning 'river where oak-trees grow', and the River Iwerne is thought
