Ladies and Gents,
Despite the awesome amount of effort that went into the development of the game and the magnificent accomplishment that it so clearly represents, there is one thing missing from Skyrim that is an essential element, without which the game is significantly emptier.

Wait, scratch that - it's almost two elements.


Think about what we know concerning the legends, myth and heroic stories that all of us are acquainted with to varying degrees regarding the early history of primitive european tribes - whether they were of gallic or germanic descent, or some other ethnic origin such as the original Finns.

We are missing Poetry and Sagas.

Look at the collected works of The Saga of the Volsungs, the Kalevala, the tale of Beowulf, or any compendium/compellation of Norse Myths. Those are powerful and highly illuminating stories that speak to us across great leaps of time, where it is evident how different people of those days were from us, and yet how they were so intimately like us in so many ways, with their worries and concerns over family, friends, their place in the grand scheme of things, and the trials, travails, bitter disappointments, betrayals, victories and challenges that they faced and experienced.

There's lots of books in skyrim, to be sure. And it's been great fun reading them.

But there's nothing that quite compares to the epic sagas that we can find in ancient literature from our own histories (whether european, south asian, chinese, japanese, or whatever.)

AND: there's pretty much no poetry to be found! Sure, there's a bard's college, but where's their collected works that sing of great knights, terrible warlocks, damsels in distress, villians, fools, humble folk and heroes?



Rectifying this could have a PROFOUND impact on the development of future DLC's and expansions. As one can see from the quests, there are some that have very interesting stories, but there are others that simply boil down to "Go to this place, stomp everyone you find, and take the thingy."

A greater emphasis on creating sagas or Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner-type poems or even stunning historical adventure narratives like Xenophon's Anabis would provide a methodology for Bethesda to make a continuing series of highly rewarding and gratifying stories and quests.



Does anyone see this differently?

Can you sum this up
My brain hurts from finals studying and I don't want to read

There should be more Fantastical poetic epics in the world of skyrim.

Summary:
There should be a fundamental methodology of developing new quests and DLC's based on the storytelling power of epic literature such as the Kalevala, the Saga of the Volsungs, the tale of Beowulf, Xenophon's Anabis, and similar great stories from the collective history of humanity. AND there should be quests that follow general models from great poems as well.

I can agree with that
Let's write some

Red Eagle Red Eagle
Your legend lives on
Although your followers may be far from gone
Red Eagle Red Eagle
Give us your strength
To an infinite length
Red Eagle Red Eagle

It doesn't necessarily have to be fantastical.
Consider: a man who survives in a wilderness for an extended period of time, armed only with his wits and whatever tools he can create from available materials (think of the stories of trappers in the Wild West in the early 1800's) are fascinating and epic tales of tremendous heroism and the spirit of struggle against seemingly insurmountable odds.

Like something to do with the first companions maybe?

Dude! You just formed the kernel of a potentially EPIC quest!
What if the guy (your character, for instance) who recovered Red Eagle's sword was contacted by the ghost of Red Eagle, with an admonishment to fight for his people and help them win their freedom and retake their land?
There is a TON of stuff that one could do with a story like that - winning over the Forsworn to build trust with them, alternately politicking and fighting with Nords, Imperials and even Thalmor and Orcs to take back the Reach, getting involved in the religious and cultural aspects of Forsworn society, getting further insights into their history, dealing with Falmer incursions, dealing with Hargravens and Daedra (or whoever the "Old Gods" are)...........


Bethesda: you've got a DLC right here, thanks to Drowslerprince and myself.

You need to hire us. And pay us. A LOT. And we want really big offices. And hawt secretaries.

It's only fair..........

Yay I did something useful!

I feel like anything in this game kind of makes itself fantastical, considering just the environments and creatures in the world of Tamriel. For example, that man in the wilderness would most likely encounter a spriggan or hagraven, perhaps even a sabertooth on his survival tale in the woods. that's all I meant by the fantastical part.

Great now I'm going to stay up all night trying to think of an epic poem. I'll be back with one in the morning.

But seriously I'd love to hear bards sing about things I've actually done in the game

Bards singing about the hero would be awesome. I'm so dang tired of hearing about ragnard the red. ugh.

Looking forward to your poetic contribution

"
I got a big sword
And killed off a horde
And took all their gold and stuff.
I captured their leader then
Refused to feed her,
And so she died in a huff.
"

Maiq, you're a liar.
Hahaha,
Your pants are on fire.

And they say I can't write poetry ...

Concise and to the point.

There are a number of in-game books containing epic poetry or sagas.

Have you found the various volumes of Songs of the Return?