I've been reading up on Norse mythology, ES lore from the UESP, and listening to some pure Norwegian black metal and viking metal.

How can you prepare yourself to get into the brutal and rugged state of mind required for Skyrim?

My recommendation:
Read Beowolf
Watch Conan (with Arnold Shwarzenegger, not that new crap)
Listen to music like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5vwXzD3N9I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2ET8ghJaBE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZmDL_PzvdY&feature=related (This particular song is Satanic in content. You might want to avoid if you're religious or get offended by such things)

Read awesome bits of Norse mythology like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naglfar

What do suggest doing to get yourself into that Brutal sense of spirit?

For the week prior to Skyrims release I will be playing Oblivion 24/7. That will freshen me up on the canon of TES.

The last thing you said OP. It's all about norse mythology (Beowulf fits somewhere in there too). I just get amplified when I read about Fafnir or Loki or The Well of Urd. Anything.

I just go to Gamestop and check out the duck tape dragon breathing duck tape fire :flamethrower:

i think I'll dress as a mage for Halloween, or something TES related.

I can in no way get excited for Skyrim by listening to rock. Only listening to grandiose orchestral music and reading up how society functioned in similar time periods with similar conditions.

Run around my woods holding a hatchet up to eye level.

Sorry but those are terrible (for me). I seriously recommend these instead to get you in mood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBqtkcZu8AQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqLHgodkIPk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhWUnSRmWFg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUzHPKbKf4Q&feature=youtube_gdata_player

pure gold! :rofl:

Play dark souls? Yay.

That game looks so good. perhaps better than skyrim *runs for his life*

Black Metal is the true music of the Norse people, bro. Cold and bleak, as hard and brutal as Skyrim. The Metal that is stained blacker than the void itself. The songs that pay homage to the Norse Gods. These are the names of beauty and death: Burzum, Sargeist, Mayhem, Gorgoroth, Bathory, Venom, Darkthrone, Emporer, Enslaved, Satyricon. All of them are as kvlt as Skyrim. I suggest watching this documentary on the subculture if you're generally unknowing of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j_ZMD6TNGc

It's up on youtube in its entirety.

I can understand if you're not kvlt enough.... lol, I'm just playing with you. It's not everyone's cup of blood filled tea. That's fine.

How 'bout some Gustav Holst instead: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0bcRCCg01I

I know it sounds weird but.. Play WoW in northrend with all the valkyrie kinda mobs and those norse quests

Winter is upon us and it's gonna rains a lot soon so i might try and shout just before it starts dripping. see if it makes me feel powerful....





...thankfully in MY house the rain stays OUT....

/agree

I may watch Valhalla Rising again. I loved that movie, weird ending, but great luscious cinematography.

Yeah, human. These are sick. Thanks for linking the documentar too. I'm getting a lot of inspiration out of this death metal history. There's so much raw genious, creativity, depth, and drive to this.

@wtflag: I cant really get into that music all that much. I like it, but it feels too forced. It feels (especially the first one) like the song thinks it knows what "epic" means, but it misses.