Elder Scrolls and Real Life Cultures

[nightinglae850]

So I know that some of the races (or all) are based off real life cultures, so this is what I think based off of clothing, the locations that they live in, and what ive seen from screenshots of the ESO, maybe you guys can correct me on a few if I'm off a little

 

Imperials - Based on the Romans at the height of their rule, being political and conquering most of the land around them as their own empire

Redguards - Based on the Persians, their dark complexion mixed with Middle Eastern style architecture and a desert which could be based off the Great Salt Desert

Nords - Based on the Scandinavians, with the Viking influence and traditions

Bretons - Based on the British during the medieval period, based on their clothing and buildings

Dwemer - Based on the Babylonians, an advanced culture who was one of the wonders of the ancient world and now Babylon is no more

Orsimer - Based on the Native Americans, a tribal warrior race that lost their land to the Reguards and now live in scattered tribes and Orsinium

Bosmer - Based on the Incas of South America, like the ones in the rainforests of Chile, they were taken over by Spain, like Valenwood was with the Thalmor

Altmer - Based on the Chinese, a great independent society with a strong army that locked itself from the outside world with the great wall, except for Summerset Isles its the ocean, and prefer not to venture outside of their home

Dunmer - Based on the Mesopotamians, with deserts blowing around like ash storms and volcanoes to the north, ebony could also be based off of obsidian (volcanic glass) which was used and traded by those people

Argonians - Based on the Chitimacha Native Americans of the Atchafalaya Swamp Basin in North America, a tribe that fished and hunted in the swamps

Khajiit - Based on the Guptas of India, they brought peace, literature and religion. India has both a desert and forests like Elsweyr and Tigers(Pahmar) there

Falmer - Based on the Inuit tribal people that live in artic regions, they have a history of fighting with other cultures and some have been forced off their land

[Georgiegril]

"Native American" is a collective appellation for people/societies with vastly disparate cultures. In some cases the only thing they have in common is their suffering of the attempts by European invaders to eradicate them. Many native cultures were not "warrior races" at all, and many only became so because they were forced to fight for their homes and lives. So I would not consider the Orsimer comparison a valid one.

 

Generally I think the races of skyrim are as much based on fictional, mythological and folkloric cultures at least as much, if not more than, actual ones.

[Derok]

Imperial: based on ancient Romans and various European cultures, mostly Italians and British. (Just look at their names).

Redguards: Probably Persian, but their clothing and lore reminds me something Turkish.

Nords: oh yeah, definitively a mix of nordic cultures

Bretons: standing at this quote from TES wiki, talking about real existed Bretons:
"Bretons hail from Brittany, France and speak a language derived from the Brythonic form of the Celtic language, similar to Welsh and Cornish."
So Bretons are a mix between English and French.

Dwemer: I'm pretty sure they are Babylonians.

Orsimer: Uhm, no. They are based on Mongolians. Easily recognized when looking at their armors.

Bosmer: I think it's the only race truly based on native americans, but I'm not too sure. They indeed share some traits with them.

Altmer: Probably based on Chinese.

Dunmer: They resemble some kind of Greek culture. VVanderfell also remembers me of Mycenae, or Crete, and it shares lot of common points like the volcano eruption that destroyed it.

Argonians: They are mostly based on Indians (the true ones), easily noticeable in their lore and names, and on South Africans cultures.

Khajiits: Arabians and North Africans. Africa has lots of tropical rainforest, it's not all deserts and savannas. Also, their accent is heavily Arabic.

Falmer: ???
Never thought about it.

Edited May 20, 2013 by Derok

[breakwind]

"Native American" is a collective appellation for people/societies with vastly disparate cultures. In some cases the only thing they have in common is their suffering of the attempts by European invaders to eradicate them. Many native cultures were not "warrior races" at all, and many only became so because they were forced to fight for their homes and lives. So I would not consider the Orsimer comparison a valid one.

 

Generally I think the races of skyrim are as much based on fictional, mythological and folkloric cultures at least as much, if not more than, actual ones.

 

 

Yes I agree. You could relate most of the races to a myriad of 'real' cultures and peoples. For instance, the OP has the Altmer based on the Chinese, but to me they resemble a more fascist culture. Of course, if you are American, chances are you will relate some races/aspects of the game to your location, such as the references to the Native Americans

[Ihoe]

I could argue that redguards are somewhere between what comes as a Black Arab-Persian Samurai. Cool combination IMO. Since the dark complexion fits Saudi Arabia, their clothing, names and Politics fit Persia, their honorable warrior spirit fits the samurai.

 

What makes me sad about skyrim, is that the dwemer featured in that game don't have the same mesepotamian feel, as if the (bland uncreative) artists went for the generic dwarf stone basements look present in every other game. (Like the witcher or dragon age)

[imperistan]

If we base our conclusions purely on culture parallels, then obviously this can be the only way:

 

Imperials - Clearly and obviously Ancient Roman

Nords - Obviously Viking Age Scandinavians.

Redguards - Moors

Bretons - Medieval French/English/Italian.

Altmer - A mix of Shogun era Japanese and WW2 Era Japanese, painted up with Tolkien Elves.

Dunmer - Mix of Indo-European and Mesopotamian. Actually one of the more unique TES races in this regard, as they're a lot different than even a lot of other RPG, Fantasy, or even mythological Dark Elves.

Bosmer - Mix of any number of Tribal cultures, particularly ones of the Amazon and middle Africa, with a lot of magic thrown in.

Orsimer - Basically Mongolians sans horses. Has a little Chinese thrown in as well

Khajiit - Saharan Nomads. Egyptian, Libyan, etc etc. Also has some Balkan influences.

Argonian - Closest parallel is un-contacted Jungle tribes, though they're the least human of the TES races, so they're more closer to an ecosystem one might find in the Amazon than a culture. There are also other cultures that lend some of their features to the Argonians. Their naming structure for instance.

 

Dwemer - They're basically just a variation of the classic dwarf of fantasy, just with the obsession with gold and jewels replaced with knowledge and technology. Outside of aesthetic influences, what we know of Dwemer culture doesn't really parallel much in the real world.

[Shubal]

I've limited the races in my Skyrim to Babes and non Babes. Woo the Babes, kill the non Babes. Life is easy.

[nightinglae850]

Yes some or all of the races could be a mix of differnt cultures but i picked the ones i thought stood out the most

[RatcatcherOfKvatch]

The coolest part of this is what doesn't fit.

 

The Nords are a fallen people. At the height of their knowledge and power they were almost as amazing as the Dwemer. The Ancient Nords get a big swipe of the Ancient Egypt brush, with commonplace mastery of dragon speech thrown in for extra awesome, which is all just withered away by the Fourth Era. A few old dudes on top of a mountain is all that's left. And draugr; I swear more Nords climb out of the ground than ever stay in it, and certainly more dead Nords know how to Shout than living ones. And they stride around like they mean business; "Hail, summoner, conjure me up an ale!" isn't something you'd imagine them saying.

 

The Falmer have fallen so far (or were corrupted by the Dwemer) they don't even have black souls any more -- they're sub-human. (That means comparing them to any actual humans would be extremely insulting. You could maybe compare with "Neanderthals" or "Australopithecines").

 

The Dwemer have an Ancient Greek thing going on; finding their lost inventions make me think of finding lost manuscripts of Archimedes. And did they ascend to some higher plane or were they wiped out by their own hubris? If the Ancient Greek cult of the Pythagorans had fables they'd probably sound very Dwemer.

 

It's touches like those that really make the world come alive. "Pure fantasy" lacks grounding and "Pure historical expy" is uncreative and almost invariably insulting to at least some of the transplanted cultures. The story writers have managed to weave the two together in a way that makes sense.

[frank lee]

The coolest part of this is what doesn't fit.

 

The Nords are a fallen people. At the height of their knowledge and power they were almost as amazing as the Dwemer. The Ancient Nords get a big swipe of the Ancient Egypt brush, with commonplace mastery of dragon speech thrown in for extra awesome, which is all just withered away by the Fourth Era.

 

Familiar with Akkadia or the Akkadian? As likely a candidate as the Egyptians for the Dwemmer especially Empire of Akkad collapsed around 2150 BC in somewhat mysterious circumstances - foul play strongly suspected, but rather dificult to prove conclusively. But the Akkadians were cursed when barbarians, it is believed, sacked their temples and their Gods abandoned them. This snippet comes to us from 4500 years of history;

 

For the first time since cities were built and founded,

The great agricultural tracts produced no grain,

The inundated tracts produced no fish,

The irrigated orchards produced neither wine nor syrup,

The gathered clouds did not rain, the masgurum did not grow.

At that time, one shekel's worth of oil was only one-half quart,

One shekel's worth of grain was only one-half quart. . . .

These sold at such prices in the markets of all the cities!

He who slept on the roof, died on the roof,

He who slept in the house, had no burial,

People were flailing at themselves from hunger.

 

No dry boring history this, but a eyewitness account of an environmental catastropy and its effects on a great but doomed civilization. The climate has changed says the writer and our infrastructure is collapsing. We have runaway hyperinflation across (our) world, So many are dying that there is not enough people to bury them properly. The last people left are going mad. . . Chilling isn't it?

 

I do like your idea about Falmer Neanderthals/Australopithecines though, cute.