User blog comment:Kidtragic/Elder Scrolls Races and Cultures Compared to Real Life./@comment-173.168.141.203-20130924211547

I know this post was made two years ago but I found it to be well written and very fascinating. However, I do happen to disagree with what a lot of people are saying, and I think part of that is because they are basing too much of their opinion on their knowledge/trivia of the video game and not talking enough about real world cultures. For example, you said khajit were either Persian or ancient egyptian. In reality thats a really, really big difference. Same with people saying Nords are either Celtic/Nordic. Again, just because two cultures are similar, and interconnected, does not mean that they can are interchangeable. I love TES as video games, and I'm sure some know way more than others about the lore than I do. However, a lot of people on these forums seem to have be slightly wrong/contradictory when discussing real world cultures. Sorry to be a snob but that just has to be said. I could still be wrong about some of this of course, but here goes.

The Nords (AKA Vikings) came EXCLUSIVELY from Scandanavia. They are not the same as the Celts. The Celts were pre-Roman iron-age people who inhabited Western Europe, and who were actually invaded by Vikings. The Viking descendants were called Normans, who conquered the Normandy region in France, and England (among other places). Brittany, home of the Breton people, is located on the western coast of France, and today is one of the few remaining "Celtic nations" along with Ireland, Scotland, Wales, etc. So their cultures are interconnected, but they cannot be said to be the same.

The Nords in Skyrim are based on the Nords of real life Scandanavia.

The Bretons are based on Breton people in Brittany, so we can say they are Celtic.

The Imperials, I think OP said it pretty well. In Oblivion they appeared to resemble medieval Western Europe, but in Skyrim their Ancient Roman influence is much more obvious in the armor they wear. There is a big difference between ancient Rome and medieval Europe, and I think they are blended together in TES, being a fantasy game and all. In Skyrim, the conflict seems to be heavily influenced by the northern Roman Empire and their border with the Germans.

The Khajit I think are closest to Indians. Like Persians, Indians have always had a culture that has a special relationship to Gold, and today India I believe is the greatest buyer of gold. In Skyrim they resemble Romanis, or gypsies, who are "dispersed" people of Indian descent living in Europe. Based on the description of the Khajit territory in Tamriel, it seems to be very similar to the Indian subcontinent. Mountains, deserts, dry areas and tropical rainforests. So to me its pretty obvious they are based on people from the Indian subcontinent. I used to think maybe they were African savannah- based, being cats and all, but to me this makes more sense.

Redguards in Oblivion seemed to resemble middle-eastern Arabs, but in Skyrim their appearence is slightly darker-skinned. Which leads me to think the Redguards are a combination of North African cultures. I wouldn't say they are Middle eastern, because the middle east only covers one portion of Africa, Egypt. So the best way to say it, is that Redguards are North African Arabs.

Thats all I got for now, may post later.