I dislike the fact that TES made the Nords sort of abandon the old Gods and heroes and adapt to the Imperial Gods like Akatosh and the rest of the tosh (pun intended). Talos is now Tiber Septim, I mean what right do these damn Imperials have to rename him? And the Empire should belong to the Nords, not the Imperials since the Nords founded it! What's next? Are the Imperials going to Imperialize Ysgramor as well? Technically, the Imperials should be nothing more than a footnote in history. My Nord character adheres to the Nordic pantheon and Ysgramor is my role model. My Bosmer worships Y'ffre and also dislikes the Empire and the Thalmor. But then again, I'm beginning to sound like the preacher in Whiterun so the rant ends here. Anyway, tell me what you think. NOTE; I'm not cirticizing the game, this is simply an RP question, much like a poll about liking Lydia or not.
(I'm not too much of an expert on TES lore so feel free to correct me).

Tiber renamed himself
Kinerath(sp?) was the main god of the norrds and she is warshiped by Imerials
Shor/Shezarim is the only one missing but Nords still warship him and it would be weird for an all inclusive empire to have a blood thursty elf killing machine as a warshiped god

Thank you for that bit of info. Shor is and will always be #1 for me though. I aslo like to think of him as the main Nord god. Why on Earth would you rename yourself Tiber Septim?

Well, first his real name wasn’t even Talos. He renamed himself to gain more support among the Cyrodil nobility. I’ll try to find what some lore suggests his REAL name is. Talos is the nickname Nords gave him. It means Storm Crown.

Ahh so it was political. Rather....low for a Nord. I'm beginning to like him less and less. At least there's always Ysgramor.

It's important to note that Akatosh's shrine involves him taking a sword down his throat. Not exactly reverent.

And Arkay, not exactly a well respected god of the Nords pre-TES V, has his symbol appear on poison vials, a Tamriel version of skull and crossbones.

His real name was probably Hjalti. I don’t think it is that surprising that he preferred nicknames and later officially changed it. His parents over did it with mead during the naming ceremony kos that is one weird name.

That's right! That's what the ghost of Old Hroldan called him! What's the strangest thing is that he appeares as a man of (sub)avarage build, doesn't look like a Nord and closely resembles some lazy Imperial bureaucrat.

there is also this

http://www.imperial-library.info/content/arcturian-heresy-0

That's because Hjalti Early-Beard is actually a Breton.
http://www.imperial-library.info/content/arcturian-heresy

Well that makes more sense now. So he's technically a Breton fraud. Unfortunately I didn't get much of the article due to my lack of knowledge on TES lore.

The books in TES lie A LOT, but the fact that the name is the same means it is probebly true. The name is true, not the other stuff. You usialy need sevral sources telling you the same thing for it to be true in TES. In Morrowind half of the Vivec Library told nothing but lies.

Also this might seem like a dumb question but WHO exactly is the Underking? Is he some sort of immortal being?

Never mind, got it.

Welcome to the frustrating world of TES lore by the way. You should spend some time at the Imperial Library if you have the time.

http://www.imperial-library.info/

Welcome to the Lore forum! A lot of the questions you're asking can be answered in the Imperial Library.

One thing to remember is how long ago all of this happened. It's a little like asking why Scandinavians don't all worship Thor. Some do, but for most, that's been a long, long time ago.

Also, the Cyrodiils were much better suited to create an empire than the Nords, given the fact that they lived in a centrally-located fertile lowland already set up with an effective imperial infrastructure, courtesy of the Ayleids.

I dislike how they made all the Nords worship the Nine, except groups like the Temple of Mara (who seem to follow the Nordic pantheon) or Golldir and Froki. I probably would have been fine with it if they went into the lore beyond old Nordic gods beyond the "Dragon War". Maybe have the Way of the Voice be dedicated to Kynareth, instead of the warlike Kyne (edit: Never mind, that sounds silly). As opposed to a mere name change. They should have told use why the Greybeards worship Kynareth.

Edit: Also, the Nords did not found the Septim Empire. The Colovians did. Hjalti is not the entire Nordic race.

It never says he was a Breton, it says he was born in the area. Nords can be born anywhere...
His race is an unknown, but i would bet on Nord.

Hence "Hjalti is not the entire Nordic race." During Tiber's time, the Nords had a very "Meh" view of the Empire. They lacked the nationalism of the past, and only Tiber's propaganda made them the way they are now. They had no true problem with elves (even willing to laugh with one at Tiber's propaganda), didn't view themselves as the father of men, ect.

They killed off Falmer b4 Tiber didnt they? I'd call that a problem with elves.

Thousands of years before Tiber.

Edit: I don't doubt the First Empire was the elf-hating, nationalistic, violent, pro-man ideals that the Pocket Guide suggested. My point was that during Tiber's time, the Nords seem to have lacked the nationalism they used to have. And that they have again.

At this point we really are playing a guessing game because there is just not enough lore to say anything definitively. I would bet that both books have truth and that both books have lies. Trying to figure out which are the truths and which are the lies tends to be pointless. To me he was probably a Nord born in High Rock, but he needed the complete support of the Nords so he made up the whole Atmora BS to increase his chances of getting it.

Yes, that's exactly what happened. But as a whole, most of Tiber's troops were Colovian soldiers. But the time, the Colovians were very Nordic in culture (I'd compare them to Fourth Era Nords).

But otherwise, the Nords didn't do much but meekly surrender to Hjalti and turn on their Breton allies. Hjalti was a Nord, yes, but Nords didn't really found the Empire.

The Nords are hella-fascinated by Shouts now, I imagine it was even more intense back then. The society also seems to favor strongman type leadership even in today’s Skyrim. Thus I don’t think Nords followed him meekly, I think they saw everything they ever wanted in a leader so they would have willingly and cheerfully followed him into Oblivion if that was his destination.