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 Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2012 2:25 pm
Alice in Wonderland
During the quest The Mind of Madness, the player encounters Sheogorath having a tea party in the middle of a forest. This is a reference to Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Annie
During the quest Innocence Lost, when you enter the orphanage, you will hear Grelod the Kind shout at the children "What do you say?", to which they respond "We love you Grelod, thank you for your kindness!". This is very similar to the musical "Annie", in which the orphans were frequently asked "WHAT DO YOU SAY?" and the response was always "We love you Miss Hannigan".
Arthurian Lore
In a small lake between Whiterun and Silent Moons Camp, there is a skeleton arm sticking out of the water holding a sword. The Lady Stone is also located on a small island in the middle of a lake. These are references to The Lady of the Lake in Arthurian lore.
Just outside of Rebel's Cairn, northwest of Rorikstead, you will find a sword in a stone, a well-known icon in Arthurian lore.
After starting the Ill Met By Moonlight quest, you will hunt down a white stag, which is found in many Arthurian stories, symbolizing adventure and the hunt.
Celtic Mythology
In the Dawnguard DLC, two huskies, Bran and Sceolang, are present in Fort Dawnguard. In Celtic mythology, the hunter-warrior Fionn mac Cumhaill (Finn McCool) had two previously human hounds sharing these same names.
Choose Your Own Adventure
Kolb & the Dragon is a book written in the style of Choose Your Own Adventure.
Cicero
In the Dark Brotherhood Quest line, you will encounter an assassin named Cicero. This is likely a reference towards the Roman philosopher and statesman Cicero, who was a close friend of Cassius, one of the assassins of Caesar, and openly endorsed the assassination after it had passed.
CuSith and Garmr
The Death Hounds CuSith and Garmr, added by the Dawnguard plug-in, are references to the Cù Sìth and Garmr, two legendary dogs from Scottish and Norse mythology, respectively.
Dungeons and Dragons
If you go back up the road from Riverwood to where you came out of after the prologue, there is a cave called Embershard Mine. This refers to the popular Dungeons and Dragons podcast that Mike Krahulik, Jerry Holkins, Scott Kurtz, and Wil Wheaton played in to showcase the new fourth edition of the game. In it, Scott Kurtz's character, Binwin Bronzebottom, refers to how his dwarven father stopped drinking because the Embershard family of dwarves stole their mine. A note found on a skeleton refers to the same, but with a Nordic, not dwarven, theme.
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser
In the Ratway, the first enemies you meet are a sneaky-looking fellow and a barbarian type called Drahff and Hewnon Black-Skeever. This references the adventures of Fritz Leiber's "Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser". Drahff is an anagram of Fafhrd, "black-skeever" is a play on "gray-mouser" and Hewnon is an anagram of Nehwon, the world in which Fafhrd and the Gray-Mouser live.
Fishy Stick
When near Sheogorath, he will sometimes say "Do you mind? I'm doing the fishstick. It's a delicate state of mind". This is a reference to the Fishy Stick meme which began on Bethesda's Official Forums and went on to become a running gag in TES games.
Galaxy Quest
During The Black Star quest, the Innkeeper in Winterhold will complain to Nelacar about conducting experiments at the Inn—"Your last [experiment] turned inside-out and it exploded"—a quote taken from the movie Galaxy Quest.
Ghostbusters
While in the Soul Cairn, some souls will say "Death is but a door, time is but a window. I'll be back." These are the last words of Vigo the Carpathian before his brutal death and the prophecy of his return from Ghostbusters II. Both characters are voiced by Max von Sydow.
Hangover
The quest A Night To Remember may be an homage to the movie The Hangover. In the quest, you travel around Skyrim looking for your drinking buddy Sam and cleaning up all the problems you created while you were drunk.
Hunt the Wumpus
The possible follower Belrand occasionally mentions a game he played as a child, "Seek the Wumpus", a name likely derived from the classic computer game Hunt the Wumpus
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Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2012 2:26 pm
Indiana Jones
When Athis is asked why he joined the Companions, his response is "Fortune and glory, friend. Fortune and glory". This is a reference to a very similar line from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Interview with the Vampire
In the Dark Brotherhood, there is a vampire named Babette. In Anne Rice's novel Interview with the Vampire, Babette is the protagonist's first love interest. The body of a young girl, however, is a reference to Claudia, the protagonist's "daughter", who was over 70 years old in the body of a 7 year old.
Legend of Sleepy Hollow
During the night, the PC may encounter a Headless Horseman, referencing Washington Irving's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". There seems to be no set spawn point for him; he can spawn anywhere between 10PM and 5AM. He appears as a headless ghost armed with a War Axe, and has a spectral horse. The PC cannot interact with him, though he may be followed. Hostile NPCs and creatures will attack him as he passes, but he ignores them. Wherever he appears, he will always make his way to Hamvir's Rest, and will disappear as soon as the player enters Hamvir's Rest and engages the hostile undead in the area. If morning comes before Hamvir's Rest is reached, the Headless Horseman always speaks of an "abrupt end" to the "game", likely referring to his leading you on all over Skyrim.
Legend of Zelda
During the quest Proving Honor, the Companion Farkas says to the player "It's a secret to everybody", a phrase popularized by the The Legend of Zelda video games.[1]
Love Potion No. 9
In the quest Salt for Arcadia, the player delivers Frost Salt to the alchemist Arcadia, who says she intends to use it to create a love elixir. This is likely a nod to the 1992 movie Love Potion No. 9, where the love potion at issue turned out to be concentrated salt.
Minecraft
At the top of Throat of the World, you can find a Notched Pickaxe that provides a bonus to smithing. The name (Notch is the nickname of the creator of Minecraft), the tool (the pickaxe is a commonly used tool in Minecraft), and the bonus (a major part of Minecraft is to create your own equipment) are all references to Minecraft.
Norse Mythology
In the quest Promises to Keep, you are able to get a birth certificate mentioning Sleipnir, the grandfather of Frost. Sleipnir is the eight-legged horse of Odin in Norse mythology.
Number of the Beast
In the quest The Cure for Madness, Astrid's horse Shadowmere resurrects from a pool of murky water. When this happens, a journal entry reading "Behold Shadowmere" is presented. The relevant quest stage for this entry is 666 and is clearly referring to "the number of the beast", a common association in mainstream Satanism/demonism as well as in popular culture. It should be noted that quest stages can only be observed on the PC version through the console or Creation Kit.
Pac-Man
In Endon's house in Markarth, there is a shelf where garlic, glow dust, sliced goat cheese, and a slaughterfish egg are arranged to resemble Pac-Man eating several pac-dots.
Pied Piper of Hamelin
In the quest Dampened Spirits, you encounter a not-quite-sane mage named Hamelyn, whose journal describes how he has created an army of skeevers. This may be a reference to the famous story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
Poltergeist
In the quest "The House of Horrors", when you become locked in the abandoned house in Markarth and the poltergeist activity starts, there are a load of chairs stacked in a precarious manner on a table. This is probably a reference to the famous scene in the 1982 movie Poltergeist, where the entities haunting the family's house do exactly the same thing.
Red Dwarf
In the quest The Mind of Madness, Pelagius' Confidence and Anger are manifest as actual beings fighting each other, and Paranoia is one section of Pelagius' mind that must be overcome. The conflict between Confidence and Anger is similar to an early episode of the British sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf, when during the episode "Confidence and Paranoia", Dave Lister contracts a mutated disease and his Confidence and Paranoia are made into human form as an effect of his illness, during which time they strive to undermine and eventually kill one another.
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
The quest title Promises to Keep is a line from the poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, and the quest-related horse "Frost" is an homage to the poem's author, Robert Frost.
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Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2012 2:27 pm
Shawshank Redemption
You can talk to Enthir at the College of Winterhold and say "I understand you're an elf who knows how to get things". This is a reference to the 1994 film adaption of Stephen King's The Shawshank Redemption.
Star Trek
An NPC called Temba Wide-Arm is a reference to a line in a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode called "Darmok", where an alien who only speaks in allegories repeatedly says "Temba, his arms wide". She is a Nord residing at the Ivarstead sawmill.
In the book Great Harbingers, Cirroc the Lofty is listed as the first Harbinger of the Companions to be an outsider. The name alludes to Cirroc Lofton, the actor that played Jake Sisko in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
When speaking to Urag gro-Shub (the librarian at the College of Winterhold), he will eventually say "But at the same time, all of it is true. Even the falsehoods. Especially the falsehoods". This is very likely an homage to this exchange between Garak and Bashir in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Star Wars
If you venture into Bleakcoast Cave, you will find inside some interesting things. The first is a snow troll; once you have found and killed the snow troll, nearby will be a skeleton hanging upside down from the ceiling with a sword on the ground. This is a reference to Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, in which Luke Skywalker finds himself trapped by a Wampa in a cave and uses the force to reach for his lightsaber. A similar reference appeared in the Morrowind expansion Bloodmoon.
Swedish Metal
During the quest Darkness Returns, you can recover Nystrom's Journal, detailing a plot by two individuals to try and infiltrate the dungeon and its priests. The two are Nystrom and Anders, a reference to Anders Nystrom, guitarist and songwriter from Swedish metal band Katatonia. The unknown phrases in the last paragraph ("He also mumbled some nonsensical phrases like 'night is the new day' and how he was the 'ghost of the sun.' I have no idea what these cryptic sentiments mean, but hopefully during tomorrow's ritual, Anders and I will put everything we've learned to the test.") are references to multiple Katatonia albums and songs—the most obvious being the album Night is the New Day and the song "Ghost of the Sun" from the album Viva Emptiness.
When completing this quest, the player jumps into a hole. In the hole is a skeleton containing Anders's Message.
Three Billy Goats Gruff
Directly south of Markarth, near Purewater Run, there is a stone bridge near a waterfall. If it is your first time there, you will see three goats; upon looking under the bridge, you will find a dead troll. This is a reference to the children's story "Three Billy Goats Gruff". A similar reference was also found in Oblivion.
William Shakespeare
Peryite, the Daedric Prince of plague and pestilence, has a shrine dedicated to him on a cliff in the wilderness of the Reach. In an alcove at the base of the cliff to the southeast, two corpses can be found with poisons and a dagger lying between them, a reference to William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (and to the famous line in Act 3, scene 1, 90–92).
William Blake
During the quest Unfathomable Depths the Dragonborn will encounter a dead Argonian named Watches-The-Roots in Avanchnzel. In William Blake's The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, one of the "Proverbs of Hell" states "The rat, the mouse, the fox, the rabbet; watch the roots; the lion, the tyger, the horse, the elephant, watch the fruits." In addition, the text of The Marriage of Heaven and Hell specifically deals with ancient and forbidden knowledge; the reward for the quest is a permanent buff to smithing, titled "Ancient Knowledge". Blake describes hanging over a pit of spiders in his work said to be a vision of Hell, suggesting the skeleton over the pit in Avanchnzel with four spiders at the bottom may represent Blake.
William Tell
In Swindler's Den is a training dummy with an apple perched on its "head", likely a nod to the famous story of William Tell, the master crossbowman who was forced to shoot an apple off his son's head.
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