After playing Skyrim for well over one hundred hours, I got the impression that the Nords of Skyrim most resembled a northern European, High Middle Ages kingdom, rather than say, a Dark Ages era Germanic or 8th through 11th century Viking society. The Scandinavian influence is certainly there in the race and culture, but I wish the Nords were less decadent as they seem here, and more of a rough, dangerous, and unruly society. They almost just come across as northern Imperials. Many more brawls should be fought (in the taverns and the streets), lawless berserkers or reavers should be roaming the wilderness killing and/or plundering from those who pass by, more "tribal" looking villages should be scattered throughout the Skyrim landscape, and by that I mean something like this:

http://morrowindphotography.com/images/bosmerbill/skaalvillage.jpg

Little villages that have no walls, have trees scattered throughout, and are a bit out of the way in the wilderness. Maybe controlled by an Empire approved chieftan or warlord. Skaal from Bloodmoon's Solstheim seems to represent the barbarian aspect of Nordic culture more, even though they actually were outcasts (or something to the effect) from Skyrim.

Instead of the generic bandit wearing the common fur or iron armor variations, I'd like to see terrifying guys like this holding up people on the roads:

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg40/scaled.php?server=40&filename=09germanberserker.jpg&res=medium

The image is from some Rome: Total War mod. Clearly a barbaric, intimidating appearance. The two heads on his side could just as easily be Imperial legionaries, although I'm not sure if Bethesda would ever do such a thing.

P.S. I would like to point out however, that despite a few let-downs, I think Skyrim is a fantastic game, and it will keep me entertained for many more days, or years, to come. Bethesda really did a good job in delivering the next Elder Scrolls game that I wanted, but because of human nature, there is a want for more.

LOL that is not intimidating at all it looks like a hipster!

You mean the real 8th century to 11th century scandinavian societies that were largely cosmopolitan kingdoms, with christian/pagan syncretism, established laws and intensive contacts with mainland europe?

Or the mythical viking societies, as portrayed by missionaries with a political agenda and local rulers who suffered from nordic aggression and occupation and needed support for their cause to reclaim their lost power?

Good point, because I suppose although Bethesda has got the historical Viking look pretty correctly incorporated with their Nord race (they even use the term "Jarl" for their lords), since Morrowind I have always got the impression that Nords were slightly more rough and primitive to how they are portrayed. I'm talking about the Nord video game race though, I'm not trying to compare it entirely to a historical Viking society.

I guess I just like the way Nords were portrayed in Solstheim more than they were portrayed in Skyrim; a more rural, hunter-gatherer group of people. They sort of reminded me of the barbarian tribes from Rome: Total War and Barbarian Invasion, although that's supposed to be earlier than the Viking period. I understand that Skyrim is an Imperial province, and the Stormcloaks are basically close to the attitude I've expected to see, but I wanted to see if I could find more rebellious Nordic groups outside of that. The Empire is facing difficult times, surely there may be other Nords banding together against it, not accepting Ulfric? I suppose more disunity in Skyrim than it is in the game.

I must say the graphic violence in Skyrim is toned down to appeal to the masses. I wish they just had a gore off mode like they did in Fallout Series.

If you're on PC there's plenty of gore mods to go around.

When punching Hadvar multiple times at the beginning of the game (bad habit, sorry) results in the wall behind him being painted almost entirely red, I consider it pretty gorey.

On topic, however, I'd say I kind of agree. Much of what we find in Skyrim is influenced much more by mythical vikings and norse mythology as opposed to what's correct according to history. We must keep in mind, regardless, that Skyrim has been part of the Empire for a long, long time ("always", according to some) and has been politically/socially influenced and become more civilized as a consequence.

Regardless, I still enjoy playing barbaric characters (such as "Arnold the Barbarian" - allergic to chest pieces) who see the big cities with the Imperial footprint upon them as something foreign and strange. Characters hailing from tribes living on the fringe of society, such as the Forsworn, but native. Thinking outside the box can do wonders for entertainment.

I actually laughed out aloud at the club wielding hipster, he looks about as threatening as a real hipster. As in the sort of person who looks like they are only being held upright by the tightness of their skinny jeans.

That guy looks like a Hagraven fashionista's idea gone wrong.

Hipster Celt Says: "I was gutting Romans before they were Romans."

I think they look just fine, the accents work the clothes work and the general ambience is great. It's important to remember it is NOT ACTUALLY Scandinavia, it's an anologue of it. And anyway they aren't barbarians are they? Unless you mean the politically-applied term, as in the one the Romans liked to throw about from time to time.

Off topic:
(As for the gore, well if you're gonna go at someone with an axe there's pretty gonna be a fairly sticky outcome - and that's absolutely fine. Different folks' sensibilities aside, which I entirely respect - you can hardly go and play a game involving knives and hammers and then worry about the gore in it, surely? I mean...
...Personally I didn't think there was quite enough, so I found a couple of things that give me more - because I think it's more realistic that way).

Well, the Nords you met in Morrowind, on Solstheim and such have been dead for a while.
Remember that this game is set 200 years after oblivion.

Strange, I never had hipster in mind when using that pic as an example, but plaid pants were popular with the barbarian tribes of Europe (Germanics, Celts, etc).

More unique shield types would have been nice too:


http://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/units/sweboz/sweboz_druhtiz_skandzisku.gif


http://www.europabarbarorum.com/i/units/sweboz/sweboz_druhtiz_herusku.gif

The patterns of the paint can make shields look cool, and I feel like it's something that could have been expanded upon in Skyrim. Maybe an idea for the expansion pack?

I like the shields, especially the second one. I wish Skyrim had more simple, light, but Nord-ish(?) shields.

Some of the Nords in Morrowind (like the Bloodmoon expansion) weren't intended to be typical Nords. They were Skaals. They didn't even have the same belief systems or same takes on gods. Besides that, they also had mages (shamans), unlike other Nords. They're different all around.

Nords throughout TES history have been the centerpoint of human civilization though. Ysgramor was said to be the first human in Tamriel (probably not true, but it does go back pretty far). They're not exactly vikings.

This is a fantasy game; don't search too many historical references

And besides, they're viking-ish enough, a complete vikning ripoff would end up as pretty boring I think.

Anything wielding a massive club with a spike plunged through it should be pretty intimidating, regardless. I'd be worried about people's survival instincts if that isn't the case.