I had some random thoughts while playing Skyrim... Regarding the puzzle totems found in nordic ruins, there are usually Whale and Snake pictures.

Is there any lore regarding Whales or Snakes in the elder scroll world? Why didn't Bethesda create whales or snakes to interact with. (Or maybe they did, but decided to leave them out for the final release of Skyrim). I personally think it would be cool to be swimming around and encounter a whale, or encounter a giant snake in a cave.

Discuss

never thought of this

maybe they just forgot?

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Nord#The_Nordic_Pantheon
scroll down to- the old ways.

For lore read the book on Fjoli and Holgeir related to the Anvislund quest.

Ah! Now I know who the Greedy Man and the Adversary represent.

The Serpent is synonymous with Lorkhan, who in turn is also Shor. Its a mirror to the Dragon, if you will. The Whale meanwhile is representative of Tsun. You'll note the giant whale bone bridge you see him guarding in Sovngarde.

Restrictions to what can be represented in game most likely. They exist, but we can't encounter them due to some restraints. Now, Sky whales on the other hand...

If the next game is in Hammerfell then i demand snakes. and dancing ones at that.

I think the whale bone bridge is from snow whales that the nords use to hunt.

New head canon:

The whales are emblematic of the Snow Whales, who have now gone extinct or are in hiding due to the return of the dragons.

The Whale Bone Bridge is actually Tsun's corpse, his form when he was an et'ada, a giant snow whale.

Whales: deep inside the northern sea I suppose. Snakes: evolved to dragons in some dark era.

I'm waiting for Shadow Titan to flame the OP for stealing his avatar.

But I'm pretty sure having snakes in Skyrim would make no sense, as snakes would not thrive in Skyrim's cold climates. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Snakes are symbolic of Lorkhan/Shor.

And there could always be snow snakes.

They could live fine in the places where there is not snow all year long.

They are probably there but snake are usually shy creatures so are hard to spot (especially in cold climates where most are unable to live due to being cold blooded)

Whales are probably further out to sea in deeper waters (they like the cold)

There are garter snakes in Canada... and Sweden as well, I believe. They only come out for a few weeks in the summer, and the rest of the time is spent in caves http://www.myamazingearth.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/garter-snake-mating-ball.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bB4jFkQ_jBk/T70ipuyFn6I/AAAAAAAAAOE/cnbxI03ve0Y/s1600/snake_pile_2crop+by+Tracy+Langkilde.jpg

There's this in http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:The_Hope_of_the_Redoran

Hammerfell has one weird ass Snake cult that worships the serpent god Satakal where the people go naked and pretend to be snakes and sometimes lash out at passersby. Some of them have been trained to slither for hundreds of miles in the burning desert. Apparently they sometimes shed their skins too. Crazy stuff

http://www.imperial-library.info/content/pocket-guide-empire-first-edition-hammerfell

Whales well you got the skeletal bridge in Sovngarde.

Ohhh god, should not have clicked, should not have clicked...

Since Lorkhan/Shor is considered the "Missing God," would it not make sense for his totem animal to be missing, too? Same goes for Jhunal. I've not seen any owls. As for Tsun, he is regarded as an "extinct god" in Varieties of Faith. I'd throw him in the same boat.

http://www.imperial-library.info/content/fight-three-snow-whale-and-dirtbird