UESP Forums

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Khajiit_Names : They do not appear indian in any form. I think they sound middle eastern. mostly persian.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dwemer: I fail to understand how can anyone claim that these are mongols ? . Like seriously look at the thick heavy beard ...when was the last time you saw a mongol with a thick beard ? Dwemer appear persian to me. atleast sumerian or akkadian etc. Their wall reliefs look very similar to these.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Dunmer_Names: Names like indoril(indra) ,indravan, avani, dalvani, r'am etc are hindu names. There are also some other names there which are suspiciously christian or western for some reason.
There are many things about this culture that can only be found in hindu thinking. Firstly consider that hindus worship devas(deadra). All abhramic religions follow beings called asuras(aedra). All aedra worshipers (western religions) consider devas(devils/deadras) as evil. Hindus worship godess of death as Shakti/Kaali. Dunmer worship mephala. Hindus had Thugge a ritualistic murdering cult in honor of KALI, dunmers have morag-tong that does the same in honor of mephala. They have clear cut division of society like hindus. eg. Hindus have kshatriyas , dunmers have redoran. hindus have brahmins, dunmer have telvani. hindus have vaishya dunmer have hlallu. etc...The parallels are endless. Their view of the world is mystical, so is an average hindu's view of the world.


http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Imperial_Names Clearly inspired from latin. These imo are classic western civilizations greek roman trojan etc.


http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Imperial_Names: Native americans or mongoloid , the only people who have smooth hair-less skin. Also good at arrows and herbal medicine. Do not worship crazy deadra.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Altmer_Names : Kingdom of siam (Thailand) When I look at elvish armor and all , I inherently compare it to this: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RwBx3dHESW0/S ... Guitar.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmV6fWSGvww


http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Orc_Names : appear like kazakistan , uzbekistan or in general central asia/lower russia region. Their armor till obilivion had designs similar to japs. Their culture is more central asian though (ie. one leader on sexually active male in a group and all).


http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Nord_Names : appear non-latin european. Although their spiritual leaders seem more close to hindu monks. One of them literally tells you "focus & breath" - which is trademark instruction for doing yogic exercises. And there is a bunch of other stuff that they believe in like reincarnation and all...(note that nords don't believe in this, they believe in shor and eternal merry time after death in shor's hall) . Grey beards however seem to have a very different view of world, and in general life after death.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Redguard_Names Arabic, african, some persian. Their swords, garbs dress all is middle eastern. I think I am most comfortable in calling out this race as mostly inspired by arabian or east-african-arabian type.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Argonian_Names: Names sound suspiciously latin. Maybe this is intended. Their crest in eso , and in general attitude towards trees (similar to bosmer ! ) . I think mayan civilization or meso americans. The other set of non arena /daggerfall names are obviously native american.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Breton_Names : normal non-latin euro names. Its just british probably hm....

Aldmer : original aryans ?


Sound:
Altmer = british
dunmer(males mostly) = australian
nord-guards/nords = arnold schwarzenegger type. some of them sound like southern states accent (esp the horse cart drivers). Some of them also really sound like english is not their first language,
orcs = anyone who does heavy drugs/steroids.

Redguards are more like Arabic people, not Jamaican.

Nords are mostly based on ancient Norse, With some Scots influence such as the Thans in Skyrim, Claymores etc)

Ya I agree. But I think I would divide them into 3 classes, nord proper, nord-skaal, nord-greybeard .

nords-proper : they believe in valor and combat, shor the god almighty and his wife kyne who is huntress? or something like that. They do not seem to believe in reincarnation since their end goal is to join shor in his great hall for an eternal time of merry cheering eating or whatever they do. This I agree completely is based on norse mythology.

nord-greybeard believe in rebirth, that one world is destroyed and next is reborn, "focus & breath" (yoga-ish concept), isolation , not acting on problems (when they suggest that the world is supposed to end, and they are fine with it). These are all things that resemble eastern mysticism.
paarthrunax has a dialog where he explains the concept of "Kalpa" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalpa_(aeon) and claims that he was created by "Borhamu" (brahma ?). So maybe its due to greybeard's association with dragons that they follow that type of eastern thought process. This argument certainly makes sense because dragons are supposed to be of Akaviri origin.


nord-skaal seem to be based off culturally on the north american natives. people of plains region in particular. They worship nature, and believe not in shor but in "all-maker".

We all have different views... Jamaicans are normally darker than Arabs, similarly, (some) Jamaicans and Redguards have dreadlocks as well.

If you're referring to the culture and clothing e.t.c. then you're more accurate with your observation. I stand by my view, just like my idea of naming my Argonian character Johnny (Example). At the end of the day it's how we interpret the characters based on a mixture of different experiences and views. One person can get a good argument out of comparing the Imperials to the British, another person can get just-as-good an argument with the comparison of Imperials to Americans, once again that's an example.

Yeah, I was referring to the culture.

The races and their cultures in the elder scrolls aren't based on any single real world culture, but have many influences. In my view, it's something like this:

Imperials are based mostly on romans judging by their names and societal organisation (like being an empire with emperor, having legions, etc), but they also have western medieval influences (knights, holy orders etc), but also later early modern western influences (having state owned monopoly trading organisations like East empire comapny, being in favour of free trade). In short, the imperials are based on the archetypical western empires throughout history.

Nords are easy to see that they're based on norse viking age culture in all aspects. Not much more to say.

Bretons take their name from the real life breton people in french britanny, but they have french rather than breton (celtic) names. They seem to be based on the typical medieval fantasy humans with knights and mages. And looking at daggerfall we see that they live in a western medieval feudal society.

Dunmers have multiple sources of inspiration. The ashlanders' names are based on old semetic mesopotamian cultures, like sumerian. Ashlander architecture and lifestyle is that of central eurasians', and their titles (like gulakhan) are based on mongolian. Dunmer religion draws inspiration from judaism (veloth lead the chosen dunmer people to the new land of morrowind, compare with moses and hebrews) and catholicism (with all its saints, inquisitions, and holy orders). Vivec seems to be based on buddha. Hlaalu architecture is based on egyptians', temple architecture is based on nepalese and tibetan, redoran and telvanni seem unique to me. Redorans' mentality are inspired by samurais. but many things about dunmers are actually unique, which is why I like them and morrowind so much.

Khajiits' culture is based on gypsies in that they're most often thieves, and somewhat nomadic (I'm not saying that all gypsies are that way, but there's the general perception). And then they have eastern infuences like arabic and persian. Their martial arts seems based on chinese ones. obviously based on cats!

argonians just seem to be stereotypical 'primitive' tribes. native american influences mostly I'd say.

Altmers have many influences. In comparison to the imperials based on romans the altmers are the greeks: excelling in intellectual pursuits. They have the arrogance of the chinese, and their looks are based on the typical tolkien elves.

Bosmers would be based on native americans.

Redguards are basically black arabians with afro-american names.

Orcs are just based on the typical fantasy orc. Brute and dumb.

Has no one ever seen a black Muslim? We have a lot of them in the U.S. They sometimes keep American names but often go for Arabic names.

I believe the Dwemer to be like those from the lost city of Atlantis, an advanced civilization that mysteriously disappeared.

If we speak only about names, it may be clear. But if we look also on culture, religion etc. things seems to be complicated.

Imperials:

1. Romans: politheism, names, legion, legion's armor...
2. Japanese: we have Blades, who in Oblivion looks like Japanese Samurai culture - katanas, armor, architecture of the Cloud Ruler Temple, but spies in Morrowind reminds me of CIA
3. Greeks: also the names and politheism. The surname "Cosades" has more Greek influence than Latin.
4. Armenian: name "Hasphat" is - if I rememeber - Armenian.
5. Scottish: we have Colovian Highlands. As we know, Colovians were brave warriors living on Highlands and later they've become a part of the Empire.

Nords:

1. Scandinavians (Vikings mostly): names, politheism, Sovngarde is just like Valhalla - only for brave warriors and full of mead. Also their look, words they use, talking about war. They are also poets and singers (Skalds in real world). Also appearance of Alduin in Sovngarde reminds me of Ragnarok. In Solstheim ("heim" in germanic languages means "home") we had "invasion" of Hircyne and his wolves (Fenrir, again Ragnarok). They were considered in Europe as people who came from the North, from the land of snow and ice (Atmora). They fought for their land, for their home with Snow Elves (Normans invaded many lands, such as Britain and settled there, just like Nords came to Skyrim, fought with elves and settled down).

2. Just anyone: they have names without surnames, many medieval people had titles. For example, we have Rokir or Lokir (the guy killed by an arrow while he tried to escape from Helgen) - Ralof asked him where is he from and he said "Rorikstead". In Poland we had "Maćko z Bogdańca" in England there was eg. "Augustine of Canterbury", in Prussia "Ulrich von Jungingen". Also titles (I just give the examples of their origin) like Pelinal Whitestrike. It is very common and connected with kings or warriors. Again, Poland: Zawisza Czarny (Zawisza the Black of Garbow).

3. Romans: proper name of Talos was Tiber, which has Latin origin: Tiberius.

Redguards:

1. Arabs: how they look (I mean natives from Hammerfell and their clothes), their temples are similar to the mosques. Also weaponry. Yokuda were sank, so the Redguars came to Hammerfell: Arabs came to the Northern Africa to expand their religion.

2. Berbers: again, how they look, even by skin. Berbers were also (in the past) politheists. They wear their clothes to cover from the sands, just like Tuaregs (Berberic tribe).

3. Africans: color of the skin.

Bretons:

1. French: names, mostly.

2. Franks: classes.

I don't have any other ideas.

Dunmer:

1. Chinese: ancient and medieval Chinese had the Great Houses, just like "civilized" Dunmers.

2. Japanese or Nizari: assassins with the honor codex: Morag Tong is similar to the Japanese Ninjas and muslim Assassins.

3. Kazakhs or Armenians (in fact tribes from the south of Russia): Ashlanders are Nomads like they were in the past. You know: the Huns, Mongolians etc.

4. Tibetans: I connect Dunmers with them especially beacuse of Vivek. The city which is a sacred place and the palace is closed to the outlanders. Also Vivek's meditation and lessons.

Bosmer:

1. Any people from tropics, like natives from the South America, people from the central Africa or from Malaysia.

Altmer:

I do not have any ideas

Orsimer:

1. I think only of barbarian tribes from the ancient world, like Gauls, Celts, Germanic tribes, Scythians or Sarmatians, etc.

Khajiit:

1. Persians: because of almost anything despite of their look

Argonians:

I don't have any ideas.

Well, I am just tired of writing, maybe later I will add something.

You can't say that really. Remember that the Blades are inspired by the Akavari.


You can't really say that either. There was a lot of name for him. Talos, Hjalti, Ysmir, Tiber, and the list goes on and on, mostly because we don't know his true race.

Stendarr preserve us.

There is a strong example of a foreign force influencing the culture and style of a domestic entity, such as the Akaviri Dragon Guard giving the Imperial Blades their sense of identity.

And it happens in the real world, too: the Islamic symbology in the United States Marine Corps; the skill of Boer Kommandos at irregular warfare inspiring such same in the Commandos of the British Army; the French Algerian styling of Zouaves in the Union army during the American Civil War.

Yeah, ok VirtualWeasel, you may be right.

But still I had written not only about the Blades :p

Cyrodiili: Upper Mediterranean in the Classic, with a smattering of the Levant.
Breton: Western Europe in the High Medieval.
Nord: Scandinavian in the Gothic.
Redguard: Arabian. Damascene.
Khajiit: North African Moorish. Both of the green fields and golden sands along the Southern Med.
Argonian: Jungle tribe dwellers scream of Sub-Sahara Dark Africa or pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.
Dunmer: Russian Empire.
Bosmer: American 17th Century frontiers.
Altmer: San Francisco, like from forever. Same level of wonderment. Same level of smug.
Orismer: Klingons. 'Nuff said. Okay, the Mongol/Sung Dynasty.

Dwemer look like middle eastern. MONGOLS DO NOT HAVE STRONG BEARD.

"The Morag Tong is an ancient guild of assassins headquartered in Morrowind, celebrating murder in the name of Mephala."
"The Dunmer associate Mephala with more simple concepts—lies, sex, and murder."
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2 ... ephala.jpg

"Thuggee (Hindi: ठग्गी ṭhagī; Urdu: ٹھگ‎; Sanskrit: sthaga; Sindhi: ٺوڳي، ٺڳ; Kannada: "thakka"), also known as tuggee refers to the acts of thugs, an organized gang of professional assassins.
They were devoted to Kali, a Hindu goddess associated with violence, sexuality, and more recently, empowerment"
http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2012/ ... 5bw8e5.jpg


Therefore Morag Tong, Mephala are clear cut rip off from hindu culture.

blue/black skin :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMW60RfyE-I

rip off hindu culture.

Altmer - a mix of ancient greeks (very intellectual, culture witch was the basis of the empire (romans/cyrodiil)), I mean, also, Bizantines, with a mix of chinese and other asians.
Argonians - Pre-colombians, specially Mayans - ESO has a picture of an argonian with a pyramid behind.
Dwemer - summerians/babylonians
Dunmer - like others have said, Russians and mongol tribes(just change snowny Siberia for Ashlands).
Khajiit - Middle East before maomé, at the time of epyptians, witch like cats by the way....lol.
Imperial - obvious
Nord - Obvious
Redguard - Arabic Spain, just before Columbus (think of him like a Redguard).
Wood Elf - forest elves, that you will find in all rpgs...
Orcs - huns, without a real country, living in tribes.

Altmer: Amerikans their try to rule the world, and invade countries with any possible reason reminds me of Thalmor, aslo trying to tell people all over the world what you can an can't do

Argonian: tribes in the Amazone, living in the woods fully in harmony with nature.

Bosmer:Mongols, they ruled the world with the bow and arrow under Ghengis Khan they're the master archers!

Breton: Great cooks as i hear, so probably French peeps, thy aslo lack that sense of humor(no offense).

Dunmer: peeps from the caribean, they often pray to their ancestors and in some cultures preform darkrtuals(voodoo).

Imperial: west european peeps, they like to talk everything over and do everything according to politics.

Khajiit: North African tribe peeps, they like in the dessert and like in caravans -nomads- just like Khajiit in Skyrim. Also they are good barters

Nord: Scandinavian peeps indeed

Orc: east europe peeps, they're very strong

Redguard: Central-Africa peeps, great feel of honor and loyalty what you need to survive over there

All of this is based on my personal experience with peeps from these region and what i know about them, just a simple opinon no hate;)

if you find yourself offendend by my observatoin here's a sweet from the candyman:

Got curious about this myself with such obvious references to real world cultures like the empire and the clearly Roman military and the conclusion I came to was that each race is based off many real life peoples and cultures but most (especially in Skyrim) have a stand out theme.

Imperials: Greeks and Romans with emphasis on Roman, aside from the obvious similarities they also focus on a highly defensive and organized style of warfare which strikes me as very Roman.

Nords: All Scandinavian and Germanic countries such as Denmark, Sweden, Scotland, Germany, England etc. but with an extremely strong Viking theme showing in Skyrim.

Redguard: Well they dress in middle east garb, are unbelievably fit (adrenaline rush) and strong. Physically they remind me of people of African decent who tend to make excellent athletes and also come from a very hot climate.

Bretons: I think they changed their mind on them when they made Oblivion, they used to be English but they became French. They have a lot of fantasy thrown in (half elf + magic) which helps make a gap between them and the imperials and for me keeps them apart from the 3 "human" races.

High Elves: I just think Chinese/Japanese after that picture from Oblivion but reading up they remind me of Nazis with the mission to exterminate the mistake that is man, They seem like the only "evil" race because of their long history of trying to enslave and exterminate men.

Bosmer: no idea because quiet frankly I have more interest in the pebbles littered around the rivers outside of Riverwood than these midget mer... I sided with Sven.

Dunmer: not sure but the family houses make me think of the Japanese game Fatal Frame and All Gods Village but I cant say I know much of anything about it. (I think this is one of the best and most interesting races from any game though.)

Khajiit: Middle East. Pretty noticeable throughout Skyrim.

Bretons had mostly French-sounding names in Morrowind too. If they changed their minds about any of the cultures between two games, it'd rather be the Redguards, who in both Morrowind and Oblivion have a kinda Caribbean/Afro-American style to them (hairstyles, pirates, the architecture of Anvil in TESIV) but in Skyrim are more like Tuaregs or bedouins (i.e. North Africans).

Mounds were also used. A somewhat common custom, at least for kings or other great Chieftains, was also to put the body dressed in full regalia on a special pyre on a ship, then set the pyre on fire and send the ship driting off to sea.

interesting viewpoint...