All of this leads me to think of weapons that used to be in TES games and would make sense in Skyrim for role-playing reasons in line with the above changes: spears.
Aside from their utility in man-to-man* combat, spears would make much more sense when "fighting" wild animals and other dangerous beasts. Real world hunters don't engage their quarry in melee combat armed with swords, axes, daggers, etc. Traditional hunters use spears (when they don't use bows). Peasants would not often have swords or battle-axes, but would have spears, serving a dual role of hunting tool and weapon of war. For instance, the boar spear. The reach of the weapon and the ability of a thrusting weapon to pierce vital organs makes spears a preferable weapon for "fighting" dangerous beasts that can easily kill.
With the reduction of the number of skills in Skyrim, I guess this isn't likely. Just wanted to share my thoughts.
*humanoids such as humans, mer, beastfolk, goblins, daedra, etc.