has anyone else wondered if the nord is an off shoot of the viking?

i mean big fair haired nordic folk? and in solthsteim there is a wood tavern where they nords would feast and drink similar to vikings..
nords and vikings are both known to love the ale...

anyone agree? disagree?

Nope. There are no vikings in TES. The nords bear a resemblance to our historical Scandinavian civilizations, but they are only based in part on them.

You can definitely see the influence of the Vikings had on the developers when they came up with the TES nords, but you should be wary of comparing a race in game is the same as a race in our world.

My God! I never noticed!

Well, I have always thought about it this way. Nords = Vikings. I'm from Scandinavia, though I've never actually played as a Nord. But I mean, the human races are supposed to resemble people in our own world, right?
The Imperials are most likely based on romans (both conquer and build an empire), and the Redguards come from Africa, the Nords from the north and so on.

^this. The Nords were largely inspired by the stereotypical Viking.
But please don't tell me you think you are the first person to figure it out!

That's all very superficial. Look a little closer, read more in game books..you'll see no one race from Tamriel perfectly matches any from Earth.

The Redguards, to use an example, seem outwardly African but have many Japanese and Middle Eastern cultural elements.

The Mongols conquered and built an empire too. So did the Aztecs. And the Osman Turks. And Shaka Zulu.

It's pretty obvious that the Nords are strongly influenced by Vikings, but to say they're actually the same is rather silly. And comparing the Imperials to Romans makes me sad. It makes a little more sense (though still not that much) if you look at the Imperials in Morrowind, but most people nowadays think about Oblivion. And pretty much the only things the Empire in Oblivion has in common with Rome is that they have an emperor, a lot of provinces and that they call their armies legions.

Nords are not based on Vikings.

Also... just because the Redguards are black doesn't make them from Africa. Seriously, guys, come on. Looks past their appearance.

Haha.

No. Viking is an occupation, not a race. Viking was a sea-faring and raiding occupation. Nords have established cities, agriculture, and other more reliable means of acquiring goods and food than raiding weaker settlements for food, riches, and slaves. Nords are also much more land-bound.

Of course they don't match perfectly, but it's obvious that they have been inspired by real cultures.



The greatest resemblance is how the Imperials live in peace with the other races, despite their conquering. It's like Pax Romana.



Look at this article, second piece of text. I think it's pretty obvious, but oh well...
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Imperial

Nords are as much Irish as they are Norse, unless, of course, you only go by the stereotypes...

Let's see...if referring to the commonly held conception of viking, then yes. However, and this one may blow your mind, Vikings didn't even come from Scandinavia originally. They were a Germanic Tribe that settled over multiple parts in Europe.

Vikings were a culture from Scandinavia, descended from immigrants from Denmark and Germany, who then settled in England and other parts of Britain, and followed the Irish to Iceland, Greenland, and possibly North America. So, yes, they were. Their ancestors weren't

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking. Pretty accurate compared to a book I have on Vikings. (I didn't read through the entire article, though.)

Yes, because the UESP is the best source for lore like ever. It's true that the names of many imperials are Latin, but aside from using the word legion the military organisation isn't very similar at all. And though the equipment in Morrowind is similar (but far from the same), Oblivion's isn't even remotely close.

Guess you never heard of the Pax Mongolica either?

I doubt the UESP is wrong, since you or others who are sceptic towards it have not yet removed the statement.



Yes, but the mongols don't even remotely remind me of Cyrodiilic Imperials.

Pax Britannic, or any other empire in history

And the Romans didn't live in peace with conquered people, either. They conquered them. Or did what the Mongols did...

If I'd bother correcting lore on the UESP I'd have no life left, so I don't bother. Besides, I do not know that much that I'd feel comfortable editing the articles out of fear of forgetting important information. The Imperial Library ftw.

I can see why the Imperials remind you more of the Romans, but if you knew more about the Roman Empire you'd see that there's practically just as much reason to compare Tiber Septim to Akbar the Great as to Augustus Caesar. I just don't like stereotyping things :shrug:

And indeed, neither the Mongols nor the Romans where very nice to people who didn't cooperate

The devs got some inspiration from real life races, thats for sure. Thats the connection youll find. Some traits come from inspiration, but theyre not based on them. Nords are not Vikings, even though there are similarities. Imperials are not Romans, even though theres was Roman weaponry in Morrowind of Imperial origin. Bretons are not French, even though they have French names etc. Inspired by, but not entirely based on.

This and is there or was an asian looking race/

i always thought some mer looked kinda asian, but i would assume that the men of Akavir would look more like asians in rl, as Akavir is in a large part based on stereotypes of asia

The Redguards are not black...
They are more of a mixture between Arabs and Whites, almost their own race.
Also consider the cultural differences between Skyrim, the East is certainly different from the West.


Now if you look at the names, that will tell you.

Imperial names= roman
Bretic names= french
Redguard names= mostly arabic (but there are different sections of arabic also)
The Nords really have their own naming thing...

And the elves and beast...ummm, they aren't on earth.


There are also cultural differences in Ra Gada. The eastern are more coastal and Yokudian in culture, the western are more nomadic in the desert.

EDIT:

I have always seen the Akaviri men as Asian.

Mixzashi (or whatever his name is) that invaded pale pass had an east asian name...(closest to Japanese)
I ahve

Yea but all the normal men from Akavir were eaten by the snake people if I am right... so few Akavir descendants are few alone.

If you do not want the thread closed for bickering, stay on topic and do not criticize the opinions of others, except to dispute them with game or lore evidence.

I'm deleting posts, and if they're repeated, or any other offense is given or taken, there will be suspensions.