Difference between Nords and Norsemen (Guide)

Disclaimer

Please note that this document along with a few others have been created with new players in mind. These documents are written by other players and are not cannon. There is a lot of lore for ESO and new players will be well served by summaries that allow them to orient what they learn in game to the larger picture. This is not a final say document and we recognize that those of you who are very familiar with the lore may disagree with individual points expressed here. We welcome those differences to be expressed in role-play, but are not looking to generate a lore battle that would be far over the heads of this documents intended audience.

Introduction

The world of Tamriel is vast. Fantastical in many ways yes, but inspired heavily by our own modern world. The human races in the game epitomize this concept and much as the Imperials draw from Roman culture or the Redguards from their African and Middle Eastern influences, so too do the Nords represent ancient Scandinavia. Where though, do we draw the line between inspiration and regurgitation? Where does the Viking model stop and the Nord model begin? We must analyze the two cultures, their history, their destiny, and their worlds to make that distinction.

Worlds Apart

Before we can discern anything we must state the obvious: Vikings were real and Nords are make believe. Skyrim is a land of ancient sunken Dwarven cities, living undead wandering the crypts of ancestors, mystics and mages openly battling with ice shards and fire bolts in the streets and literal dragons soaring in the sky. Norway was just Norway but older. What may seem to be a simplistic comparison in fact lends to some of the most key points of the article. Skyrim was invaded by the Atmoran ancestors of the Nords because of the wars with literal dragons, the encroaching frost, and the revenge sought against elven murderers. The growth and expansion of the Nord culture was heavily dependent on these and many other specific elements such as the Thu'um and the Cyrodiilic Empire that simply were not present in our own real world History.

No one knows for certain why the Norse took to the sea and started 'viking'. Some believe it was simple greed and lust for power, some think it was religious zeal, others have proposed it was revenge against Charlemagne. Whatever the reason though, the Viking Culture began as hit and run raids in their unique environmental settings. They developed around this enterprise specifically because it brought prosperity to their struggling society for a time and did so in a way that many of them felt held to their desires for glory. Most Norse people idolized their stories of mythical characters fighting dragons and battling trolls, as was evident in their storytelling. However unlike the fantasy race of the Nords, they had no monsters to fight. This is a clear division between the two cultures and that divergence in adversaries perhaps makes up for the majority of their differences.

Posted above is a rough diagram of some of the most basic differences that each culture has developed as well as their overlap. As you can see, there are nearly as many similarities but there are also plenty of stark variations that are specific to how each culture developed. Nords may have started as Atmoran Raiders similar to Vikings, but their ensuing battles with the magical elves, the Dragon War, the Dwemer and their encounters with the Cyrodiilic Empire played a huge role in their history. Theirs is a culture of their settled homeland being in such proximity to the magical and political strife of the nation of Tamriel. On the contrary, the Vikings were separated by a sea, fleeing frost and civil unrest with only a few moments of singular rule over their people in their entire history. They created a culture around this profession of Viking, extorting rich monarchs and profiting from the vast trade in goods and slaves that came with their traveling nature.

Conclusion

These two great races draw upon many similar concepts in their inception. They all drink mead from horns, wear furs and dream of a glorious death that will let them spend their eternity in the gilded halls of their gods feasting and fighting forever. However, those elements that were present for them at the time of their first recorded history tended to evolve differently based on their worlds. Tamriel is decidedly NOT ancient Europe. As roleplayers, we are here to take our understanding from our real world and translate it into speech and actions our characters might take in the fantasy realm. It is important then, when searching for the right words to portray our avatars, that we ourselves make the same distinctions. Our world is not fantasy, and inspiration has a line that we must realize if we are to remain immersed. There are always exceptions, everyone has creativity that differs from one another. It’s my hope with this writing that the fundamental break in the realities is clear and helps anyone hoping to authentically roleplay a Nord find what they are looking for.

Disclaimer and Copyright

This page may contain a mix of ESO canon and Hofborg fanon. This guild project, including the player homes, the story arcs, the add-on and the wiki, is the combined effort of an entire team of incredibly talented writers, builders and programmers. ESO canon has been credited to its source site and Fanon contributors are on the Copyright page.