If you think Whiterun looks like Edoras (which it does), then take a look at Markarth from the outside. It bears an astonishing resemblance to Helm's Deep.

Does it really matter? Nobody hates Morrowind because Vivec is clearly based on Tenochtitlan.

Huh? Since when does Edoras exist?

I just took another look at whiterun and that pic looks nothing like it. Go ahead and try to find a position where you can screenshot whiterun and do a side by side comparison of pics.

http://www1.pcmag.com/media/images/275641-the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-markath.jpg and http://www.mayvin.be/gallery/HelmsDeep_beauty_001.jpg also look similar due to being similar structures, but hardly anyone mentions them.

I couldn't find a great picture of Helms Deep, but they both have the tower, the walls and the river.

I was going to point this out too...I recently watched the extended bonus content. It shows peter jackson scouting for a location and finding this hill...then built the whole town on it.

Nothing wrong with Whiterun being a rip off of this...it suits the story and culture in Skyrim.

Whiterun is actually my favourite location for this reason...first time I saw it after Riverwood...I was like "wooohooo I'm in ROHAN!"

I sense a conspiracy on our hands.....

Have you seen the way the throat of the world looks like Mt Everest? Jeeze beth get some originality!!! And as for the grass.......well, i swear i've seen some just like it on my front lawn.

http://nerdvice.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/ThroatOfTheWorld.jpg


http://www.google.com.au/imgres?q=everest&hl=en&safe=off&gbv=2&biw=1366&bih=622&tbm=isch&tbnid=Ixm-ewSb-UhhsM:&imgrefurl=http://www.videomaker.com/community/videonews/2011/10/11420-scientists-mount-webcam-on-mount-everest/&docid=sIPZ32kPwtDDgM&imgurl=http://www.videomaker.com/community/videonews/files/2011/10/Everest-closeup.jpg&w=1984&h=1488&ei=7aUVT9qsFc28iAfe_r1D&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=363&sig=110708716403839387580&page=1&tbnh=120&tbnw=168&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0&tx=132&ty=59

there's nothing the matter with my horn cheeky.....

On closer inspection it would appear you were correct, and I was less correct

Well, just maybe the Nords found the very same hill and maybe, just maybe Mr. Jackson dropped his plans for Edoras in a nearby cave where it was discovered by an adventurer who subsequently took an arrow in the knee. That makes perfect sense don't you think?

Matterhorn is not as wide at the top as everest, Throat of the world is similar in that respect, but it's base is more like matterhorn's

Bethesda stole nothing. This is how you set up many cities in the middle ages or even before. Makes sense and is the easiest to defend. Build on a hill and wall it off. You have the higher position to defend incoming attacks. Pretty standard. More true to say Peter Jackson stole this from history. Ideas a just borrowed anyway, not stolen.

Reading online about Adventure Time just now I came across this pic: http://i.imgur.com/5UT3b.jpg

You may not have realised that my comments where set 'tongue in cheek' so to speak!

None of the questions I posed or answers given were meant to be offencive or to be taken seriously and the links provided where simply to inform - not prove any point.

Furthermore, I go on [in my previous post] to say 'the author will undoubtedly draw on his or her past experiences including materials heard, seen or read.' So, It is plain to see I was agreeing with the OP in relation to the ending 'took inspiration from' point you make. I also claim 'Beth did not steal anything'.

Really! If we are to take all this to the extreme, no more books or songs or games could ever be written for fear of the author being accussed of some wrong doing! (Please keep that in context.)

Back on topic, the linked picture from the OP does put one in mind of Whiterun somewhat. The picture also brings the unnamed town with the mead hall (Heorot) as descriced in Beowulf to mind - kind of. Norse or Nordic history gets drawn upon in all kinds of 'fantasy'.

Sssh

Alan Lee -----> Peter Jackson ------> Bethesda

Peter Jackson says repeatedly that much of the whole production of the movies and how things "should look" were based on old Alan Lee illustrations.

The illustration Alan Lee did called 'Edoras' is much like what you see in the movies except somewhat less cylindrical.

Just type 'Alan Lee Edoras' into Google images and you will see. Most cities, towers, and landmarks have a stromg Alan Lee feel.

Edoras wasn't all CGI. If you watch the extended version commentary with Peter Jackson and the two ladies he wrote the movies with, they talk about actually building a little city on that hill. The huge hall I believe was CGI but most of the buildings were not.

Hmmm, it's almost like both Tolkien and Bethesda have stolen from Medieval Scandinavia.... SCANDAL!

There's a lot of CGI in LOTR, but believe it or not, they actually built Edoras (just facades, of course, not interiors) on a mountain. Took six months. But unfortunately it was torn down after filming.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_of_the_Rings:_The_Two_Towers

You do realise that hill was real and they actually built the entire main hall at the top. Not everything is CGI

Really didn't expect a barrage of thirteen year old angry, illogical and idiotic fan boys when I made this post.

Lol @ all these comments. The OP sent a link to one picture now all I see is paragraph after paragraph of life consuming rubbish and no one cares about ! hah