Forums » Elder Scrolls

Historical Depictions in Skyrim?

    • 3 posts
    January 5, 2012 9:17 AM EST

    So me and some friends decided we were going to try to find historical realities within Skyrim. Think about this, I'm not trying to offend anyone but Ulfric Stormcloak is very similar to Hitler; tries to create a dominant race, segregates certain races and quarantines them in designated areas of cities within his control, great speaker, very persuasive, and believes that he and his troops are the true rulers of the country. Are there any other historical references that you can see within Skyrim?

    • 577 posts
    January 5, 2012 9:37 AM EST

    hmmm...the first thing that pops into my mind is The Imperials and the US. We seem to have to have our little fingers in everthing! (I'm American and proud of it, but not really into getting in every other countries business. Is there a time an place for it? yes...and there's other times where we have no reason to get invovled.) I hate politics, blah, blah, blah, so I'm not going to rant on about it. But historically and present, I see a similarity between the two. Hope that makes sense.

    • 6 posts
    January 5, 2012 10:08 AM EST
    Yeah, I see what you mean. Comparing the Legion does make me think of the US in some ways too. The civil war in Skyrim kinda makes me think of America's civil war. One side believes it is fighting for its rights, while the other wants to preserve the establishment. I also never really compared Ulfric to Adolf. Now that you mention it, it does look like they can be similar in some ways. Ulfric might not be as racist, but anyone on the outside would know that he is not really the right path to follow.
    • 6 posts
    January 5, 2012 1:49 PM EST

    Interesting idea. Hitler and Nazi Germany were fascinated to the point of obsession with Norse Mythology  and Neo-Pagan mysticism and are descendants of Germanic and Norse tribes which worshiped Odin and other gods in the Norse pantheon. During the Inquisition, many Germanic pagans were persecuted, tortured and killed as witches and heretics, and this made many Nazis resentful of the Roman Catholic Church. I find a lot of similarities of the Norseman ti the Nords in Skyrim as well as Norse Myth in the game itself. The Nords are prevented from worshiping their own gods by the Imperials much like the Germanic and Norse peoples were forced to forego their pagan gods and convert to Christianity by the Church and State.

    I myself have always viewed the Imperials in Skyrim as a kind of Roman Empire that conquered, invaded and occupied other lands such as Britain, France, Germany, Israel, Egypt, much like the U.S. is today. Tamriel would be the equivalent of ancient Rome in some sense and the gauntlets there are much like Gladiator arenas in Rome. The Stormcloak Nords I view as one of the barbarian tribes in history that were occupied and at times fought against the Romans, such as the Franks, the Vandals, the Normans, the Gauls, or what have you. In some sense I see it as Imperials=Roman Empire and Stormcloaks= one of the historic Barbarian tribe that fought the Romans. Modern day twist would be: Empire=the U.S. and Stormcloaks=Japan and Germany circa 1945 and present day Iraq, Afganistan... In some sense U.S. represents an exploitation of Capitalist greed on 3rd world countries and even on their own native people and citizens for profit (i.e. oil, gold, animal flesh, consumer goods, etc) encroaching on their ways of life and beliefs and stripping them of their cultural identities. Or in Star Wars, the Imperials would be the Galactic Empire and Stormcloaks would be the Rebel Alliance....hmmm.