1. Thu’um sounds badass and very powerful.
A long practiced spiritual form of Nordic magic, also known as the Tongues, that is based on their worship of the Wind as a personification of Kynareth. Through the use of the Voice the power of a Nord can be formed into a thu'um, or shout - which has a large variety of applications. Shouts can be used to sharpen blades or to strike enemies. A common effect is the shout that knocks an enemy back, or the power of command. A strong Nord can instill bravery in men with his battle-cry, or stop a charging warrior with a roar.

Master Voices (known simply as Tongues) have legendary, and often unbelievable powers. They can call to specific people over hundreds of miles, and can move by casting a shout, appearing where it lands. The most powerful masters must even be careful whenever they speak, as their voice can cause great destruction. They must go gagged, and communicate through a sign language and through scribing runes. The breath and the voice are the vital essence of a Nord.

Today, all Tongues live secluded lives on the highest peaks of Skyrim in tough conditions and contemplation, and have only spoken to announce the destiny of the great Tiber Septim.

2. When the Nords attack a city, they take no siege engines or cavalry; the Tongues form in a wedge in front of the gatehouse, and draw in breath. When the leader lets it out in a Thu'um, the doors are blown in, and the axemen rush into the city.

When they defeat great enemies they take their tongues as trophies. These are woven into ropes and can hold speech like an enchantment.

3. During the Conquest of Morrowind, the Nordic war chiefs were also Tongues (Derek the Tall, Jorg Helmborg, Hoag Merkiller). They needed no typical siege weapons when attacking a city as they merely used the Voice to break down the city gate and allow their armies to storm in. The future of the Tongues was forever changed by the most powerful Tongue, Jurgen Windcaller, also better known as the Calm. Jurgen converted to a pacifist and refused to use the Voice for any martial purposes. In a confrontation with 17 other tongues he reportedly swallowed the Shouts of the 17 for three days until they lay exhausted, later to become his followers.

The art of Thu-um as a weapon is now lost and forbidden. Apart from the students of the discredited School of Thu'um in the Imperial City, Tiber Septim was reputedly the last man to wield this power. However, the ancient Greybeards still sit atop the many steps leading to the peak of High Hrothgar. (Hints that this is the training you shall receive in Skyrim)

4. The further north you go into Skyrim, the more powerful and elemental the people become, and the less they require dwellings and shelters. Wind is fundamental to Skyrim and the Nords; those that live in the far wastes always carry a wind with them.

5. Nords consider themselves to be the children of the sky. They call Skyrim or rather the tallest mountain in Skyrim the Throat of the World, because http://www.imperial-library.info/content/morrowind-children-sky They believe that they were http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Nord when the sky breathed onto the peak of this mountain, where High Hrothgar stands. The religion of Skyrim is focused on the Aedra and their old ally, Lorkhan. The Nordic Akatosh is Alduin, a terrible, ravenous dragon who presides over the cycle of existence and devours the universe at intervals. His coming is feared by all pious Nords, and he is the object of (through Nordic eyes) perverse worship by the Altmer, who venerated Auri-El. In more recent days, it has been shown that the traditional Alduin can co-exist with the less adversarial Cyrodiilic interpretation of Akatosh the Time Dragon. Kyne is notably more assertive and warlike than the nature-loving Kynareth. Although Mara is present in her role as a mother goddess, it was Kyne who is the mother of the Nords. She is also credited with sending her son Morihaus (and perhaps Pelinal) to the aid of the Cyro-Nordic slaves in their uprising. The chief of the pantheon of Skyrim is Lorkhan, and he merits the most mention. The Nords know him as Shor. The king of the gods, a champion of men in their struggles against the elves. He was treacherously slain by elven devils, yet continues to bestow favor on his people by aiding them with immortal champions such as Ysmir, another member of the Nordic pantheon. Today, Ysmir is the name by which Nords recognize the divinity of Talos.

Spoiler Contains: My theory on Shor's connection to the Dovahkiin (Dragonborn) in Skyrim

Interesting take on things by the Nords huh?