Skyrim shares a significant similarity with Norse and Viking culture. Many of the Nord architecture, art, and general culture is inspired by the Vikings and the ancient Norse people. However, there are elements that are added to the mix to give Nords their own unique identity. However, some players may not find it enough and may want more Viking-inspired content in Skyrim Special Edition.
Thanks to an active modding community, players may be able to do so by downloading and installing a series of mods. These mods will add new content while some may overhaul existing vanilla content to effectively transform Skyrim into a Viking game.
7 Scandanavian Seasons ENB And Weather Mod
To properly set the mood for a Viking-inspired playthrough, players will need to acquire the Scandanavian Seasons ENB by L3st4t and install the mod. It adds several effects including a real-time snow cover and wet effects, transforming the landscape of Skyrim to resemble that of a Nordic country.
Players will need to pair the mod with Scandinavian Seasons Extended that overhauls Skyrim's seasons and weather, including new effects that will appear randomly during different seasons. The mod also changes sunsets, sunrises, overall color effects, and fog and snow effects to better fit a Norse environment.
6 Nordic Faces
Nordic Faces by deletepcoverhauls the vanilla character creation and brings it up to modern standards by adding better textures and meshes to the game. The mod preserves the vanilla aesthetic while upgrading Faces, Bodies, Hairs, Beards, Brows, Eyes, Scars, Warpaints, and Makeup for humans, mer, and beast races.
The modded faces still retain the weathered look from vanilla Skyrim necessary for a Viking aesthetic. The mod comes with only the meshes, textures, and FaceGen data for NPCs, allowing players to use the mod without the hassle of managing multiple plugins.
5 Yggdrasil Music And SoundFX Overhaul SE
Music can make or break any kind of feeling and vibe that players may want to create. Therefore, it is instrumental to choose and install a good music mod that replaces Skyrim's vanilla soundtrack. Yggdrasil Music And SoundFX Overhaul SE by kilateone aims to do so by adding nearly 12 hours of lore-friendly Dark Nordic and Ambient music along with some complimentary sound effects.
The mod does not replace any of the vanilla music, however, it changes the vanilla music playlist that dictates what kind of music gets played in which location. For a hassle-free installation, it is recommended players install the mod using a mod manager of their choice.
4 Viking Settlements And Villages
Although Skyrim's towns take a considerable amount of inspiration from Norse culture, they have other elements added into the mix that makes them unfit for a Viking-themed playthrough. Players can attempt to overhaul these towns via mods, however, doing so may create some problems with quests if these mods change essential things. This is why mod author mnikjom presents a solution with their mod Viking Towns of Skyrim. The mod adds three completely new Viking towns to the world space of Skyrim, complete with NPCs who inhabit them.
Players can find them north of Winterhold, next to the wreck of the Brine Hammer and south of Morthal. If players want to go the extra mile and add an even bigger town, then they can install Lngwi by skoomaface, which adds a much bigger Viking-themed settlement. The mod adds a new Nordic village north of Dawnstar that has over 20 new NPCs and two followers, children, three unique treasures to find, a player home, merchants, and much more for players to discover.
3 Viking Longhouse
It is important to get proper rest after a long day of adventuring through the land of Skyrim. The Dragonborn can certainly sleep at any of the taverns. However, they can only sleep overnight and will have to pay for a prolonged stay. For a long-term stay, it is better to acquire a house as not only can players rest, they can store their excess gear in the house as well.
The Viking’s Longhouse by Schwarky adds a Viking-themed player home, next to the Hlaalu Farm near Windhelm. Players will find benches with sit and sleep markers, a cooking area, tanning tack, a workbench, and an alchemy lab. They will also have bookshelves, some displays for their weapons, and storage to keep their gear.
2 Olag's Legacy And Vanilla Armor Replacer
To look the part of a Viking, players will need to acquire some appropriate armor sets. Players will need the Ulag’s Legacy armor mod by Guitun Scarfin for this purpose that adds several armor sets that players can craft. They will need the Advanced Armors Smithing perk to do so and will need to acquire certain items for the crafting options to appear in the menu.
To include more options, players can get the Vanilla Armor Replacers mod by NordWarUA. It replaces the bulk of Skyrim’s armor sets with more realistic variants along with retexturing some existing sets. However, not all of the armors added will fit a Viking-themed playthrough and players will have to experiment with what fits best.
1 Somewhat Historically Accurate Weapons And Viking Gear
The Somewhat Historically Accurate Weapons and Viking Gear by Drunkzealot and Croc adds a collection of various historically accurate weapons to the game. Players will find that not all of the weapons added by the mod will fit a Norse-themed playthrough, but there will be enough Viking-style shields, swords, and axes to give them an adequate level of variety.
Players will need to choose if they want to install only the craft-only version of the mod or the one that distributes these items to NPCs and loot chests throughout the game's world.
The Elder Scrolls 5 Skyrim: Anniversary Edition is currently available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.