Medieval Age Perceptions of War and Environment, 975–1493 CE

In the heroic tales recited by poets such as the Nordic skall, Anglo-Saxon scribe, Gaelic fili, Mongolian shaman, and West African griot, warfare and nature are deeply intertwined strands. Distinctive and regional epic tapestries set in Ireland, Denmark, Mongolia, and West Africa were woven on looms of the Medieval poetic imagination. Originating as oral lore and histories, polished, and embellished over time by countless storytelling sessions, the epics were eventually recorded, transmuted from the medium of the tongue and ear, to the pen, parchment, and library. This chapter explores the wetlands warfare and the lore of place names (dindseanchas) of Gaelic battle sites in the respective epic poems Beowulf, and Táin Bó Cúailnge (Cattle Raid of Cooley). It then maps out the Eurasian equestrian steppeland empire's methods of conquest in the Uighur-Mongol epic The Secret History of the Mongols and The Travels of Marco Polo. Lastly, Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali, provides insights on the perceptions of war, environment and Atlantic Oceanic explorations launched from Medieval West Africa.