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.