They sound just like Arnold. Whenever I walk by them, they say something like, "Take care wit dose flames!" in a Terminator accent. I thought Skyrim was supposed to be based on Norse mythology, as in Norway. So why do these guys have strong Austrian accents? Maybe they actually are Terminators that were sent back in time or something?

I've noticed some Nord guards sound like Arnold.

The Imperials seem to mostly be voiced by the same guy who did Fenris from Da2 and Balthier from FF12 (Gideon Emery). A waste of talent btw.. he should have a bigger character.

I tell everyone that the guards sound like him.

"What is it? Dragons?"

yea i had hope for some norwegan accents but to no..
and Norse culture doesn't necessarily mean just norwegan

Well, some of them have it. Whoever that guy is who does Ralof's voice does some guards, I think? Same with Farengar's? They sound scandinavian to me.

Okay, I hate to break this bad news to our European friends, but most Americans aren't going to be able to distinguish every different European accent. Can we tell French accents from German from Russian from Spanish? Sure, particularly if we're talking about fairly thick, somewhat stereotypical versions of each accent. But honestly, Germanic and Scandinavian languages do share some kinship, and it's just not worth Bethesda's money to go overboard being super-picky with accents. As long as some of the Nords sound like they've got a Germanic or Scandinavian accent, it gives the game the right feel to me. While it would have been interesting for Bethesda to find a bunch of Danes, Norwegians and Swedes to do the Nord voices, Italians to do the Imperials and perhaps Welsh or Irish or Scots to do the Breton accents, it might have meant hitting the point of diminishing returns.

Well don't forget some of the female guards sound like they are from Jamaica. Mai Tai anyone?

See, I always interpreted that as sounding inexplicably like some unknown Eastern European dialect.