Just gotta say that I finally noticed a little detail I hadn't noticed before in Skyrim. I had started a new character to try a new playstyle, and had just gotten out of Helgen, and was walking with Hadvar to Riverwood, when I noticed a small waterfall/rapids in the river that leads to Riverwood. Imagine my surprise when I saw salmon leaping out of the water up the waterfall! It was something i hadn't noticed before, but it was a little detail that makes the world of Skyrim feel a little more real.

So, now I turn to the community here and ask this: What are the little things in Skyrim that make the game awesome for you?

all those random things that can happen, that's what truly stands out.

Yeah the salmon are awesome, but there's a LOT of detail and often quite dark humour in the game as well, it has a lot of depth to it as an overall experience - the farmers leading the cattle to the giants, the cattle are painted, there are proper reasons why, the little abandoned shacks or shacks with corpses in who've just ...died...
It's a living/dying world.
Brilliant.

Throwing a body in a river and watching it float down stream. It always amuses me.

Ah yeah, I've seen that (The farmers leading the sacrificial cattle to giants, that is).

There are a ton of nice little touches in the game, too. Like in the Abandoned prison you can find along the White River as it drops into Eastmarch; without having any quests or interactive NPCs in that old prison, Bethesda managed to tell the story of what happened there via notes left there and by the skeletons you can find lying throughout the prison. Gotta give a tip of the hat to Bethesda for details like that.

Yeah I loved that, that's not far from the shack that's been crushed by the falling tree I think...

I love the sound effects as they add so much to the game. The sound of the wind whistling past your ears, or the flapping of the bats wings in the caves really help to make Skyrim feel alive.

The general landscape and how for once it looks like the places of interest belong in it rather than plonked on it. Oh and the waterfalls.

How every follower I've had says something different when I heal them. Some say things that are sweet or cute...some are even grouchy about being healed. I like that little attention to detail.

Wha?? I have to go find these!
There is a small cave east of Valtheim Towers that tells a little story. I was pleased to explore that one. I will say that it is a bit dangerous at low levels.

Giants and wooly mammoths walking side by side. Dogs that talk. Little children who compliment you even if your a monstrous looking Orc. Friendly npcs who will trust you to deliever a friends ashes to a Priest who will do the last rites on them. The buetiful sunshine of a Skyrim sky. The calming sound of a flowing river. The birds chirping in the distance as if whistling..Julie. The little rabbits prancing about. The friendly tavern patrons. The warm fire of logs burning in a camp. The horse and carriage which will take you to different locations. The misty rainy days making me feel am camping in the woods. The rain droplets splashing on water when it rains. The traveling Bards who will sing a song for you. Cheese and chicken and bread and warm mead and apple pie and..

have you guys noticed that near deadric shrines, deadric artifacts or within daedric quests, there is always goats. just a tip kids, goats

I recently was walking down a road and saw a bear, the bear came charging at me since I disturbed its sleep. As I make my way up the hill after killing the bear I realize the corpses around where the bear was sleeping. I was like "bears are dangerous" I think I got the message.

The bards in taverns were a nice addition, i was very happily surprised the first time i heard someone singing in the background while i was chilling by the fire.
song was "Ragnar The Red". I also really like the addition of the bugs flying around, fish in the rivers, and the smaller animals like rabbits and foxes running through the forest, it all makes the world feel more alive.

These things plus the vistas and the weathertypes, the sky at night can be particularly beautiful, I agree make walking around the world very enjoyable.

I've only come across this once, but it was a mammoth that was frozen inside of a glacier...I don't even remember where it was.

I like to use Candlelight when walking around outdoors at night - even in the towns. It's neat to have that little light burning overhead and having NPCs walk by and say "Whoa!" or "How colorful!"

Also, like ride-the-spiral said, I like the sound effects. I especially like the sound of something really heavy falling once my character enters a dungeon. My first thought is what was able to pick up and drop something that big!

In a canyon south-west of Saarthal

I made a thread like this a while ago because I never noticed that when you shoot some enemies where the arrow hit there was a little blood around the wound like it would look on a real human, for me this made me think Bethesda really does go out of their way to be as detailed as possible, and they should really be praised for that.

After I fully upgraded the Dawnstar DB Sanctuary, I went into the torture room and started mercilessly beating up one of the captives while using healing hands to keep him alive. After literally about 5 minutes of this he sad 'It's in a hollowed-out rock, south west of witerun, please leave me alone!' or something along those lines. This creates a miscellaneous task to find the rock, which I did, to find 2000 gold hidden in it. Who said Skyrim isn't rewarding?

I love the forests around sunrise and sunset.
The bards,
The sound of a bow being pulled back.
The aurora, especialy the blue one.
The weather.

Also when starting a new character. Anduin the dragon attacks Helgen. When running to the keep with Hadvar, Anduin swoops down on a wall, picks up a guard, flies up and drops the guard from way up high. Guard dropped for a couple of seconds before swatting dead on the ground.

Awesome detail!

Oh man where to start :S

1) The shack that has fallen together due to a tree, and the owner of it and his name...
2) The abandoned prison
3) The changing weather
4) How wildlife feels somewhat realistic both animation wise and behavior wise
5) The lighthouse where it's owners has been killed, and there is a nice little puzzle for you to solve
6) The hunters taking a relaxing bath
7) How citizen in a city seems to actually live a life
8) Insects flying around
9) The possibility to shoot down birds from the sky
10) How dungeons and nature feel like they have been put there with attention to detail rather then had a script just placing them in the area
11) The mammoth frozen in the Glacier
12) The bards singing in inn's
13) Children playing in the streets
14) Fish swimming in rivers and jumping in waterfalls
15) Treasure maps
16) Treasure chests hidden in rivers etc

The amount of small details that can be discovered is just immense, and it is one of the good thing about Skyrim. It lacks in certain things, but these small things just improves the game so much and makes the things that are not so good into something you accept for what it is and keep enjoying the game because you never know what you will find in the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2OVlVn73pQ

I couldn't believe my ears when I heard it.

large scale of it all. people and building sizes are really nice!