Perhaps. There were women warriors in medieval epics like Brunhilda, the Warrior-Queen of Iceland, from the Nibelung Saga.
Apparently there were historical Shieldmaidens in some parts of Scandinavia during this era as well. So Skyrim is not so far-fetched with its gender roles.

From 'Jokes', by Butha Sunhous :

" Why was the Sentinel army so useless during the War of Betony?

The cannons were too heavy, so all three garbage scows sunk. "

Well with the dwemer fortifications and the magic, I'd say they're in a weird future

Is it even possible for a culture to be as technologically stagnant as Tamriel is?

Picking an Earth year for Skyrim (the game) is fine, but that year pretty much applies to hundreds of preceding Tamriel years. In all that time, they have not even advanced to the level of the Dwemer.

It's clearly set back in the day when we had flying dragons and wizards casting spells.

The correct answer is 1973.

Yes, but the overall point of this thread is to group entire concepts in to one grosly over-generalized group.

The general flavor of this game is CE 1000.

Time travel, dimensions and the like might as well be akin to magic. Something that people in the Middle Ages described in their arts and texts frequently.

Alas, let us not debate semantics, because clearly, definitions are subjective.

If you see the Empire as the Romans and the Stormcloaks as the Britians then Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 BC. The Roman Empire invaded Britain in 43 AD. Since Rome was not an Empire in name (or at the very least didnt have an official emperor) until Augustus, I would go with the 43 AD number. The problem was there was no equality with men and women in the Roman Empire nor the Brits of the time. This is a modern thing that was put into the game based on our modern society. But you wouldn't see female soldiers in the Roman Empire. There is also things in the game that didnt exist until much later, like the glass another poster was speaking of.

Most human civilisations don't advance at all or advance very slowly. European advancements following the Renaissance were pretty much the exception in world history and only happened because of a rare combination of factors.

I'd say its more based in the future, something like 3500-4000 AD. Have to account for the Dwemer tech, which to me reaks of the Industrial Age. Being that all of the holds (Markarth aside) don't have anything advanced, it's almost like an event happened that set them back in technology.

Deep philosophical question ... if crossbows are not in the game, do they really exist on Nirn? If so, where are they? Locked in a warehouse somewhere? So many things to ponder .

What a party pooper.

It's an exponential curve. Technological advance spurs more technological advance. There was more going in medieval times on than the people of the day are given credit for. Militarily there were advances in sword and armor technology, with steel plate armor being a huge advance. There were also advances in social structure that laid the foundation for the Renaissance.

IMHO changes in mind set were the biggest driving factors in the initial stages of European development. What changed during the Renaissance and later the Enlightenment was that they were less likely to kill you for thinking a bit differently. That let people think differently. That spurred technology and science. Since that time we have been in a feedback loop where the next advance not only gets you one step further but also offers possibilities for future advances.

A lot of great answers.
Since I am a Christian, I look at it slightly different though.
I look at it as pre-flood or maybe a bit after.
And the giants are nephilim. (Genesis 6)
The 'gods' are the Angels that taught men stuff.
Kinda similar to the book of enoch.
Anyway, just a different take of it all.
Probably best answer is the one where the guy said it was like an alpha bet soup of all kinds of stuff just thrown together.
But i'm glad they did, awesome game!

Fine, if you take the magic away they are still late renaissance and most certainly not medieval.

Another thing : everyone can read, there are books in just about every house. Which period of our history does that coincide with? None, not even today, we haven't reached that level yet.

I would say its hard to out a finger on the timeline with the extreme circumstances that govern TES threwout time, with the god like construct if Dagoth Ur, power by an ancient divine heart. All the way to the Dwemer Numidium, to the supernatural elements of this world. Everything else would roughl around the renaissance, but if you gaffer on in the mythical and the technology of the Dwemer its impossible to compare Nirn to Earth.

Sorry, its impossible to tell there is so much from so many different centuries used to bring the TES to life... you cannot reasonably narrow it down to any living period in human history, aside from before the age of firearms. That being said, the Dwemer have steam technology so that even throws the firearms limit out the window.