How historically accurate is Skyrim?

[ProphetDragon]

Skyrim like all of the TES games was SET in the middle ages time around the 9th or 10th century. This question has already been asked twice but not in a complete manner.

Compare the nords to vikings and imperials to romans and ask yourselves a question. How historically accurate is Skyrim?

We already discussed about the iron helmet issue but only discuss this as a closing statement.

[MARS]

Basically not at all. Longer answer potentially later when I'm not on the go.

[Dark Spark]

An easy example of the inaccuracy is the fact there is New World produce such as tomatoes and potatoes in the land, prior to their introduction in a historical setting.

We can get around this if we think such crops were introduced to Tamriel from Yokuda by way of the Redguards' arrival to these shores.

[Unionhack]

Plus, the whole 'magic' thing kinda precludes any and all 'historical accuracy'.

[Finn Wolfshorn]

Skyrim like all of the TES games was SET in the middle ages time around the 9th or 10th century.

No, it's not. It's set early in the 3rd century of the Fourth Era of Tamriel, a world which combines features drawn from several epochs of RL history, ranging from ancient Rome through 10th century Scandinavia to the late Middle Ages / early Renaissance, including influences from other cultures (Yokuda, Akavir) and anachronistic technology (steampunk Dwemer, space-travelling voidships). It's an eclectic world, and historical accuracy doesn't seem to me a meaningful concept with regard to Tamriel.

[Unionhack]

There's that too, yeah. It seems almost unfair to compare the setting of the Elder Scrolls to a corresponding historical period. The setting is far too unique, fantasy-driven, and large for that.

Perhaps you could do with with less complex setting, but certainly not ES.

[ProphetDragon]

How about the buildings and weapons?

[Unionhack]

There are weapons literally made of an otherworldly, demonic metal. Not exactly comparable.

[Walker Jones]

They also have weird shapes and are as historically inaccurate as my lid is not there.
Looks like daedric princes want them to be perfect weapons against their own users (stop hitting yourself mortal!).

[ProphetDragon]

Look very different than a Skyrim sword no?

[Walker Jones]

Yes, it looks very different.

Steel Sword in skyrim (http://www.uesp.net/w/images/f/fc/SR-ic ... lSword.png) has too tiny hilt (your old example lost its grip), too thick crossguard (which only adds weight in wrong place), and really weird blade. For good point of balance (few cm/inches above the hilt) blade should be getting thinner (as you can see in your Ulfbreht example, here's a modern replica https://www.reliks.com/products/2335/2.jpg ). The one in skyrim has too much weight towards the point and it's not historically accurate (nor practical in real world).


As you should see now, TES world has it's own rules and weapons are made of whatever-devs-intended and other poor-game-design choices. Why? Because they can, and people buy it.

[ProphetDragon]

You are quite a hard opponent.

[Rezalon]

I had a quick read of this topic so I'm not sure if this is relevant but:

If the Space Core mod developed by Bethesda and Valve can be considered canon, then with Portal 2 being set 50,000 years after Portal 1 (Portal 1 being set in 2010 [for the 50,000 years, see The Final Hours of Portal 2]), and due to the incredibly slow speed of Wheatley and the Space Core travelling through space, then entirety of the Elder Scrolls series is set probably millions, billions, or even trillions of years in our future.

[legoless]

If the Space Core mod developed by Bethesda and Valve can be considered canon, then with Portal 2 being set 50,000 years after Portal 1 (Portal 1 being set in 2010 [for the 50,000 years, see The Final Hours of Portal 2]), and due to the incredibly slow speed of Wheatley and the Space Core travelling through space, then entirety of the Elder Scrolls series is set probably millions, billions, or even trillions of years in our future.

The Spheriphem's canonicity is debatable, but it certainly doesn't extend the TES world into Portal like that.

[Norva]

I think it's safe to say that Space Core is not meant to be canon in any way.

[legoless]

You say that, but sentient moonstone constructs work pretty well as Aetherial fragments - well within the scope of canonicity if you try to ignore the glaring cross-game cameo. That's a discussion for another thread though.

[Dark Spark]

Yes, it looks very different.

Steel Sword in skyrim (http://www.uesp.net/w/images/f/fc/SR-ic ... lSword.png) has too tiny hilt (your old example lost its grip), too thick crossguard (which only adds weight in wrong place), and really weird blade. For good point of balance (few cm/inches above the hilt) blade should be getting thinner (as you can see in your Ulfbreht example, here's a modern replica https://www.reliks.com/products/2335/2.jpg ). The one in skyrim has too much weight towards the point and it's not historically accurate (nor practical in real world) ...

There are two kinds of taper to a sword blade: the profile taper (how pointy it gets) and the distal taper.

Distal taper is the degree of thinness you give to the blade further you move down to the tip. So a broad sword with very little pointyness can still find balance by thinning down the blade at the tip.

[ProphetDragon]

Hey! Skyrim is not made by aliens. The creators were inspired from real world, the only question is: are the buildings, armor and weapons that we find in Skyrim similar to the real world? So far, there is not much significance at all because some people might be wondering "are the magic spells in Skyrim accurate to the Force powers in Star Wars"?

[Aarah]

Hey! Skyrim is not made by aliens. The creators were inspired from real world, the only question is: are the buildings, armor and weapons that we find in Skyrim similar to the real world? So far, there is not much significance at all because some people might be wondering "are the magic spells in Skyrim accurate to the Force powers in Star Wars"?

There are lots of things in Skyrim that are similar to the real world. Just looking at the buildings, armour and weapons in the game shows those similarities.
Houses made of wood, buildings of stone, weapons of steel and iron that are reminiscent of weapons from our world - same goes for the armour. All of which can show a likeness to materials, crafting methods and designs from various time periods and countries of Earth.
Many elements in the game are similar to things we have in the real world, but with many differences and with a bunch of fantasy touches added to detach it from ours and make it more fantastical.

[ProphetDragon]

I take that as a yes to 'is Skyrim historically accurate'.

[Aarah]

It was a yes to being similar, but not to being historically accurate.

Comparing the Nords to Vikings, and the Imperials to Romans, we could point out their similarities, along with their differences. They certainly seem to have been inspired by different cultures and time periods from our world, but I think if the game designers made it too authentic to our history, then it would make Skyrim too much like Earth in the past, rather than an original, unique fantasy world set in another Universe.
So, it's more of a 'no' answer to the accuracy, as Tamriel is fictitious and it doesn't need to be historically accurate for any time period because it isn't, and doesn't want to be, part of our history.

[ProphetDragon]

Wait! Who says that the Aedras are actually the creators while the Daedra ate neutrals? Remember the 'flat earth' theorey? Maybe Nirn is also just another planet and the people of that place are just theorizing how they came to this world. Do you think there can be a game theorey episode about this?

[Finn Wolfshorn]

Who says that the Aedras are actually the creators while the Daedra ate neutrals?

Yep, the Daedra ate all the neutrals. That's why there's only good and evil left. (Yeah, I know. I'm sorry.)

[ProphetDragon]

Only the people of nirn say that they are, but are they really?

Before answering this question, we need to see how the Sith are evil?

[Dark Spark]

Aedra see mortals as their creations: cared for, tended to, and something to watch as they grow.

Daedra see mortals as toys and tools. Something to use-- something to use up and discard.