Yeah, all those archetypes (Including dwarves, which you left out) have been around for many hundreds of years before Tolkien, he didn't invent them, he just did his take on those ancient Norse legends. Skyrim could be said to be inspired by Norse legend as much as anything else.

Read some lore. Religious Bosmeri are forbidden to eat growing things or use them as building materials. Valenwood society is exclusively carnivorous.

Imperials vs rebels

Clearly Star Wars

Except the Falmer already existed in lore, playing an important role in history and Nordic culture. But if you just jump on the nearest shaky parallel to a cliche, you miss the actual content.

Falmer are goblins because their spines are curved? Really?

doh! How could we possibly miss that!?

The movie was too long as it was to be practical for most audiences and Peter Jackson did a great job with what he had. This being said, I'd loved it if the ENTIRE FULL BOOK was included in the film. As for special effects, they were awesome and did a great job of portraying Tolkien's epic battles. I'd rate it 9/10.

love that series. a friend of mine got me a trilogy from it and Im hooked.

nothing wrong with LOTR movies. Nobody touches 3 Hr plus movies anymore. That's what I love about LOTR special editions. I love the adaptation, you can't fit it all.

Whiterun looks a lot like Edoras from the films, but I've also seen the Hall of Heorot from Beowulf depicted as being on a hill, and a castle on a hill is sort of ubiquitous. But I wouldn't be surprised if the artists did draw some visual inspiration from the film.

Just for kicks, here is the concept art for Whiterun:
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/File:SR-concept-Whiterun_Castle.jpg
http://www.uesp.net/wiki/File:SR-concept-WhiterunCityTundra.jpg

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/File:SR-concept-Windhelm.jpg concept art looks similar, too.

Then they realized that trapping a dragon in a wooden keep is a terrible idea.

I'll say this once, and I'll say it again; Mer are not Quendi.

One is mortal, the other is immortal.

One is magical, the other is spiritual.

One is arrogant, the other is proud.

One is alien, the other is ethereal.

One is flawed, the other is flawless.

Elves (or dwarves, gnomes, trolls etc) in one setting are not the same in the other. If anything, people comparing universes should realize that.

Dont be so naive, to say that the folks at Bethesda diddnt take more than a little inspiration from the Lord of the Rings movies would be a massive lie, just look at Whiterun, you cant honestly tell me that it wasnt at least a little bit inspired by Rohan, also if you look at how they redesigned the Orcish armour you cant tell me that its design wasnt at least a little bit inspired by the armour of the Uruk Hai.

Get 2 pics and compare them side by side and then tell me if you still think so. Dont just go from memory.

Oh look! A town on a hill, surrounded by a wall! It must be inspired by LoTR!

I'll be perfectly honest, I don't see that as inspiration from the movie, that's just good tactics. Besides being built on a hill and having buildings made out of wood, I really don't see the resemblance.

And aside from color, I also don't really see the resemblance between http://a4.ec-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/49/e5a8eba2f4fbf8f329888b3cf5a1b1ce/l.jpg and http://images.wikia.com/elderscrolls/images/e/e7/SR-concept-Orc_Armor.jpg. They have entirely different structures, besides the fact that they both have overlapping bits of metal.

I agree that saying that they didn't take at least some amount of inspiration from Tolkien is silly. But overly emphasizing the amount is also silly.

On the edge of a brown, tussocky grassland with sparse vegetation and clusters of rocks, with tall, snowy mountains looming nearby, stands a rocky outcrop/hill. On the edge of this hill is a short fortification wall, surrounding a small, rustic city with wooden buildings, built with full logs as main supports rather than cut planks and with curved, Norse style carvings and patterns. On the end of the roofs, some of the buildings have wooden beams crossed, and others carry carved horses, the symbol of the city. At the top of this hill and city, there is a large and ornate, mostly wooden hall where the city ruler lives. So what place am I talking about? This description fits just as well for either one. The places aren't identical but the inspiration is obvious as hell.

So... you mean both are inspired by Norse architecture?

These are the images I've found of Edoras.
http://img-nex.theonering.net/images/scrapbook/orig/8378_orig.jpg
http://img-nex.theonering.net/images/scrapbook/1591.jpg
Doesn't look much like what I've found in Whiterun, aside from colors.

This is Edoras's location.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1428/538189210_58543abb06.jpg
Looks more like the stuff I see on my drive from home to university than anything I've found in Skyrim.

http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lvl5kqV1MZ1qfsssio1_500.jpg
Aside from geography, which can be found many, many places in the world besides LoTR's movies, and the fact that they're both on a hill (Whiterun being on a much smaller hill), I really do not see the resemblance. Sorry.

Seeing bushland right next to a mountain range is something you'll see in almost any mountain range in the world. Just look at the Sierras. Looks like the Mojave desert to me.

Based on? No.

Heavily influenced by? Absolutely.

How about http://www.wetanz.com/assets/Uploads/_resampled/CabinetLarge-lotrurukhaiarmour.jpg then, I know they are hardly identical but considering the change in style of the armour from Morrowind to Skyrim you cant tell me that the armour hasnt at least taken some inspiration from the Uruk Hai.

But really if you dont see the similarities between Rohan and Whiterun then you are either blind, stupid or willfully ignorant.

Um. I can tell you the Orc armor and the Uruk Hai armor look nothing alike. Sorry.

And wow! Insulting my intelligence! That sure convinces me to see things your way.

Again, for those who aren't reading my posts: I'm not saying Bethesda hasn't drawn some inspiration from Lord of the Rings. However, I think people are seeing inspiration where it is simply a common origin - both are based on Norse architecture. A common inspiration reaches a common result.

For example: OMG! The Cloud Ruler Temple looks a lot like The Last Samurai architecture! Oblivion was obviously inspired by The Last Samurai! It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that both are based on Japanese architecture!

You just described Birka

I just looked it up. Apart from it being by the water, not in a tundra and having plenty of vegetation, not being near mountains, not (according to the reconstructed buildings) having the afformentioned log pillars or carvings, nor any mention of horses or the horse being the motif of the town, and no mention of a big wooden hall where the ruler lives sitting at a higher altitude than the rest of the place, yes, I did. I certainly did describe it as... wood buildings surrounded by a wall.

my bad....

just...no

If people want to say A looks like B they should include links to pics for side by side comparison.

You do realize that the LOTR films are not original material, right?