There have been several references to nordic/scandinavian names and words in earlier ES-games. I guess/hope we will see the same with Skyrim.
For me as a norwegian it`s fun to see how Bethesda can take two familiar words for me, and make a word or name of it.

One example: The "Udyrfrykte" monster.
Udyrfrykte is a combination of two norwegian words(maybe danish and swedish aswell, I`m not sure)

"Udyr" - animal/monster/dangerous creature. "Dyr" = animal

"frykte" - may mean several things. "Frykt" means "fear", "frykte" means "to fear" or be really scared or frightened of. "Frykte" can also be a shortened version of "fryktelig", that means "terrible", "heinous" or "scary"

Solstheim - I`m a bit unsure about this. "Sol" means "sun", but I hardly think that is the meaning of it. "Heim" is a well-known norwegian word and means "home". "Heim" is also used in names of places and towns such as "Trondheim" in the middle of Norway.

I know there are several other references, but I can`t think of any right now, except the Nord-names.

Maybe my fellow scandinavians(finns aswell) can come up with more cultural and linguistic fun facts I`m sure it`s some british or highland influences too.
Do you think the scandinavian references should be played down in Skyrim or are you ok with it?

I don't see myself having any problems with Norse influence, so long as it's not a copy of the RL culture.

So the English equivalent of "Udyrfrykte" is "deer-fright"? Can I ask what the "u" in front of "udyr" means?

About "Solstheim", it might be a mixture of 'solst(ice)' + 'heim', for "home of the solstice"?

For myself, and despite the Nords' obvious association with Scandinavians, I've always kind of looked at them as more of a "proto-Germanic" or "pan-Germanic" people, which could explain why English exists in Tamriel. It could have opened up the world of Skyrim to a wider variety of culture than just the typical "Viking" stuff; although I could be quite wrong in assuming they did not do so... We'll just have to wait and see.

There are also Jarls, the Scandinavian equivalent of Earls/Counts.

The "u" is uhh. "Horrible Creature" "Udyr"