Easter Eggs (Skyrim)

The following are Easter Eggs that appear in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Be aware some of these may contain spoilers:

(To add to these, please keep them in Alphabetical order)

Choose Your Own Adventure

 * A Choose Your Own Adventure style book can be found in Kolb and the Dragon

The Headless Horseman

 * At night along roads you have a chance of encountering a spectral horseman without a head galloping along at full tilt. He carries an axe on his back, which is likely a reference to Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". If you follow him, he eventually takes you to a graveyard where there are several skeletons to fight and a Master chest. Check out the full encounter in 1080p!

Katatonia Reference

 * During the quest on along the Pilgrim's Path to return the Skeleton key, a diary titled "Nydstrom's Diary" is found. Nydstrom being the guitarist from prominent Swedish progressive metal band Katatonia. In it contains several references to the band's music including "Night is the New Day" their latest album and "Ghost of the Sun," a song from another album.

The Legend of King Arthur

 * If you have found Broken Tower Redoubt, directly south of it there will be a place called Rebel's Cairn where you will find a pile of stones in the front of the cave and there will be a Steel Sword in the top stone, which is a reference to the sword in the stone in the legend of King Arthur.
 * Arthur.jpgtly Northeast of Bleakwind Basin, there is a pond with a skeletal arm holding a leveled sword, which is a reference to the Lady in the Lake in the legend of King Arthur.


 * The Lady Stone is found in the middle of a lake, another reference to the Lady in the Lake.

Lord of the Rings

 * In Whiterun, the giant tree there is called the Gildergreen. It is grown from the Eldergleam, the oldest living thing in Skyrim, but is failing. This is similar to the Gondorian capital of Minas Tirith in Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, where the legendary White Tree faces a similar fate.
 * In Whiterun, if you are on the quest Battle for Whiterun, you see Hadvar or Ralof near the city wall after the battle. He makes a reference to Legolas and Gimli's ongoing competition in the movies. "I'm pretty sure I killed more than you. I was counting."

Minecraft

 * The Notched Pickaxe is a reference to "Notch", the creator of Minecraft. As a pickaxe it is used for mining and it features an enchantment that boosts Smithing, Skyrim's method of crafting. Its hidden-yet-noteworthy location combined with its lack of appearance in any other TES game confirm its Easter Egg nature. Also see http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2011/06/14/notch-and-todd-howard-the-one-on-one-interview.aspx

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

 * When fighting, enemies occasionally yell "It's just a flesh wound!" which is a reference to the scene with the Black Knight in which his arm is cut off before exclaiming said phrase.

Penny Arcade Celebrity Dungeons and Dragons Series

 * The Embershard Mine, southwest of Riverwood, is a reference to the Celebrity Dungeons and Dragons campaign hosted by Wizards of the Coast, featuring Mike Kahulik (Gabe) and Jerry Holkins (Tycho) from the webcomic Penny Arcade, Scott Kurtz from the webcomic PvP, and Wil Wheaton. The mine is named after the "Ambershard" clan of dwarves who, in the campaign, stole a mine from the clan of Scott Kurtz's character, Binwin Bronzebottom.


 * A tattered journal within the mine speaks of "Wooden beams that we reinforced with bronze bottoms," another reference to the Bronzebottom clan. Later in the journal, the writer mentions that they might "stop drinking for good," a reference to Binwin's father, a dwarf, who quit drinking out of shame for losing his mine to the Ambershards.

Star Trek Reference

 * In the village of Ivarstead there is a woman named Temba Wide-Arm. This is a reference to the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Darmok, where one of the often-repeated phrases is "Temba, his arms wide."

Star Wars Reference

 * Inside of Bleakcoast Cave (Eastern Winterhold) there is a skeleton hanging upside down from the ceiling. Below the skeleton is a glowing sword. This makes reference to Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back when Luke Skywalker was caught on Hoth and hung from the cavern ceiling. The sword below representing his lightsaber. (see video here)
 * When entering bandit locations, sometimes Lydia will say "I have a bad feeling about this."
 * This marks the second time Bethesda has put this Easter Egg in an Elder Scrolls game. A similar cave existed in Bloodmoon called Bjorn, referencing the exact same scene of the exact same movie in the exact same manner.


 * If you travel with the ghost of Lucien Lachance he will some times say "I feel a disturbance in the void" which is very similar to the phrase "I feel a disturbance in the force" from the Star Wars movies which is often mentioned by Jedi.
 * Inside of Frostfruit Inn Erik can be heard talking to his father, with his father telling him "all I ask is that you stay on for one more season" and "that's just your mother's side in you." This is in reference to Uncle Owen's conversation with Luke in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Three Billy Goats Gruff

 * On your way to Hag Rock Redoubt, there is a bridge with a dead Troll underneath. If it's your first time visiting, you will witness two goats meeting a third at the end of the bridge then running off together. This is a reference to the child's tale, "Three Billy Goats Gruff," where a troll is defeated by a trio of goats. A similar reference was made in Oblivion.

Historical References

 * The East Empire Company is a reference to the East India Company.
 * Sovngarde has very notable similarities to Asgard as well as Shor's Hall to Valhalla.
 * The Poetic Edda sought by the Bards College reflects a collection of texts of the same name from Old Norse culture.
 * A mammoth can be found directly east of Frostflow Lighthouse, frozen into the side of a glacier with arrows and what appear to be prehistoric spears embedded in its hide.
 * Several Pagan symbols exist within the world of Skyrim. On the Mortar and Pestle of almost every alchemy shop sign is a full moon flanked by two crescent moons; a symbol for the Tri-Goddess in Neo-Paganism, and the head of the axe on The Warrior's Stone as well as the symbol of Talos are the direct traditional depiction of Mjolnir, Thor's hammer.

Alchemy

 * The Mortar and Pestle is a reference to the alchemical apparatus used in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.

Removed Armor

 * Guards frequently mention how they "took an arrow in the knee". This is a reference to earlier Elder Scrolls Games, such as Morrowind and Oblivion, where Greaves (covering the knees) exists as an armor type. They were removed in Skyrim, making it possible to "get shot in the knee" for the first time.

Alduin's Wall

 * Alduin's Wall showcases events from the previous four games, such as:
 * The shattering of the Staff of Chaos from The Elder Scrolls I: Arena.
 * Numidium From The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall.
 * Red Mountain from The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.
 * An Oblivion Gate over the White Gold Tower from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

M'aiq the Liar

 * M'aiq reappears in Skyrim. He appeared in Morrowind and Oblivion, as an Easter Egg Basket of sorts for developers to comment on some of the game features that were removed, added, or were/are planned for the series as well as other RPG gaming community related remarks.

The Elder Scrolls I: Arena

 * Labyrinthian was first introduced in Arena. Like in Arena, the College of Winterhold is involved in your visit to Labyrinthian. And like in Arena, the player is going there to retrieve a magical staff (in Arena, you went to recover a piece of the broken Staff of Chaos).

The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall

 * During Sheogorath's quest, he tries to guess who the message you bring him is from. One of his picks was King Lysandus' ghost.
 * At the inn in Solitude, the bard sometimes plays the melody heard in the stores in The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall.
 * A quest for the Companions involves killing Glenmoril Witches to cure Lycanthropy. Glenmoril Witches, and their relation to lycanthropy's cure were first introduced in Daggerfall.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

 * During the quest The Cure For Madness in the ice cave portion of the quest, you encounter a unique troll named Udefrykte which is a reference to The Udyrfrykte from Bloodmoon who bears a similar appearance and is also found in a similar location though their names are spelled slightly different. The Udyrfrykte in turn is a reference to Grendel in the epic Beowulf.
 * The artifact Keening from the main quest of Morrowind makes a return. Unlike in Morrowind, Keening can be used without Wraithguard with no ill effects.
 * A drug called Balmora Blue figures in a Thieves Guild quest, named after the town of Balmora from Morrowind.
 * If you fail a persuasion check when first encountering Nelacar in the Azura's Star quest, he says "Right, now tell me the one about the Argonian maid and the lusty baron." This is a reference to the book from the Elder Scrolls series: The Lusty Argonian Maid. The same book exists in Skyrim, easily missed on a bookshelf amid burned and ruined books as well as found in Haelga's room in Haelga's Barracks in Riften. There is also another part of The Lusty Argonian Maid that can be read in-game.
 * A bar in the Grey Quarters of Windhelm is called New Gnisis Corner Club named after Gnisis from Morrowind, and the habit of the Dunmer to call taverns "Corner Clubs". Local Nords will remark on the latter. Incidently, Gnisis did not have a Corner Club.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

 * Lucien Lachance returns in Ghost form when you obtain the power "Summon Spectral Assassin".
 * Lucien will make several references to Oblivion's plot, especially to the Dark Brotherhood quests of Oblivion. These include mentioning the death of Uriel Septim VII, the story of Mathieu Bellamont and mentions of performing a "purification" on a Dark Brotherhood sanctuary, which includes how he is "more partial to apples" than the poison stew during the quest "To Kill An Empire".
 * One of the employers for the Dark Brotherhood is named Amaund Motierre. Francois Motierre hired the Dark Brotherhood in Oblivion. Gabriella will remark that the Motierres are a powerful, old family of Bretons on Cyrodill. Both Motierres' missions involve a trip through a zombie-filled crypt.
 * Upon finding a Crimson Nirnroot (see bottom of the page) you start a quest named, "A Return To Your Roots" which is a reference to Oblivion's Nirnroot quest. Sinderion, the Altmer who was after Nirnroot in Oblivion, can be found by a Crimson Nirnroot, however he is dead and nothing but bones.
 * A statue of the Gray Fox can be found in Mercer Frey's house in Riften, along with Chillrend.
 * The husk of a giant mudcrab can be found within the plains surrounding Whiterun, continuing the giant mud crab tradition from prior games. It is however, very much dead upon discovery, unlike in Oblivion, where the giant mudcrab is alive and fightable. However, there is a quest were you have to fight the Guardian Mudcrab Spirit at that location.
 * In the Dark Brotherhood, if you read Cicero's Journal Volume 1, he writes; 27th of Rain's Hand, 4E 187 Completed the Arena contract. I ultimately decided to pose as a starstruck fan, and immediately got into the Grand Champion's good graces. While escorting the arrogant fool through the Great Forest, I slashed his throat and left the corpse for the bears. This is a reference to the Adoring Fan in Oblivion, who many gamers found incredibly annoying.
 * Shadowmere, the horse given to you in Oblivion by Lucien Lachance, is again given to you by Astrid during the Dark Brotherhood quests. If you have the spell "Summon Spectral Assassin" cast and Lucien is following you as the spectre, as he approaches Shadowmere he will say "Shadowmere, my old and dear friend."
 * When asking Elgrim about his store, he mentions that it is hard to get Painted Troll Fat, an ingredient from Oblivion, only acquirable by painted trolls from the quest A Brush With Death. You may also overhear him scolding Ingun for wasting his supply of the aforementioned ingredient.
 * In Riften, you can find a Dark Elf named Romlyn Dreth working for the Black-Briar's mead production, who is related to Valen Dreth, the Dark Elf prisoner in Oblivion who taunts the player character at the beginning of the game. At night, in the Bee and Barb, you can hear Romlyn tell fake stories about Valen and the Oblivion Crisis (example being how Valen single handedly killed 6 Imperial Guards before he was taken to jail.)
 * The quest Laid to Rest feature a Vampire named Movarth. Movarth's story features in the book Immortal Blood, which first appeared in Oblivion. It can also still be found in Skyrim.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles

 * Inside Riften's Keep, in the court mage's room you may find a letter behind the counter, called "Per Your Note_location.jpgst". It is a response to a letter sent by Wylandriah, a female Bosmer, regarding the unexistance of a bunch of items that the mage asked for. One of the items is the infamous drug from the Isles called "Greenmote". Mirabelle assumes that Wylandriah has made a mistake, writting that Greenmote does not exist and that she miswrote "Greenspore".
 * Sheogorath has the same voice as his predecessor from Shivering Isles. He also makes references to Passwall and Haskill. He also refers to the plot of Shivering Isles when introducing himself, saying Sheogorath is a title that gets passed "From me to myself."

The Sweetroll Joke
A running joke in Bethesda games (dating all the way back to Arena) about sweetrolls can be found throughout the game.
 * Town guards will occasionally say, "Let me guess, someone stole your sweetroll?"
 * The item Sweetroll can be found throughout Skyrim as a normal food item, and sometimes placed in strange locations.
 * While following you, Cicero will sometimes say, "Cicero is hungry for a sweetroll...Or a carrot..."
 * Children can rarely be heard saying, "Give me back my sweetroll!" while chasing each other around.
 * The Wabbajack can sometimes place a sweetroll behind the enemy causing them to turn around or rarely turn an enemy into a sweetroll.
 * The Jarl of Whiterun's daughter can be heard complaining that it is almost impossible to find a decent sweetroll in Whiterun.
 * Having your sweetroll stolen was first mentioned in Arena when answering moral questions to determine your class. It was used in a similar context in Daggerfall and Morrowind.
 * Skyrim is the second Bethesda game since the sweetroll joke started to not employ it during either character creation or the prologue events, the other being Oblivion. (Skyrim doesnt HAVE these)