When playing as a Nord in Skyrim, it's not enough to have long and wavy blond hair or Scandinavian or Germanic names. You also have to drink your youth, and to days come and gone; for the age of oppression is now nearly done. Do drive out the Empire before doing that, after all, Skyrim belongs to the Nords!
Suffice to say, they're one of the easiest races to roleplay in Skyrim due to how prevalent their culture is. It's their land so that figures. Still, you'd want to make your ancestors proud and ensure they're smiling when they look down, by ensuring that your Nord character doesn't miss any of these crucial roleplaying points. Otherwise, go back to Cyrodiil, you milk-drinker.
10 Remove Any Jug Of Milk In Your Inventory
So, you've been called a milk-drinker in Skyrim even though you're a Nord? Time to fix that evolutionary weakness. Milk in Skyrim is for making perfectly preservable blocks of cheese or bread. Anyone who drinks it raw is likely barred entry from Sovngarde.
Because Nords only drink either ale or mead from their buckskin pouch canteens. Even the Nord children seem to practice this early on given how neurotic they can be toward any wandered there to lick their father's boots. So drop the milk for any kind of liquor, preferable Black-Briar's.
9 Wear Steel Armor Or Hide Armor
That awesome-looking Imperial armor that's clearly inspired by Roman legionnaire panoply? They're weak! Forget about them. The sons of Skyrim either go naked in battle or in their own trusty steel forged by their Nord hands. Nords can resist frost so the first suggestion makes sense.
Meanwhile, steel or iron armor in Skyrim are two of the most iconic pieces of protection with Nord flavoring. Another would be the Hide Armor which is clearly what the Nord Dragonborn in Skyrim's gameplay trailer wore, along with an Iron Helmet.
8 Be Either A Soldier Or A Mercenary
Life in Skyrim is hard and fast, though a consolation would be getting accepted in the halls of Sovngarde. That's why living dangerously is a noble lifestyle in Skyrim and no other profession other than being a sellsword or a soldier lets you do that.
For one, it increases your chances of prematurely entering Sovngarde. Nords are hot-blooded by nature and some believe that this is one of their ways to compensate for the extreme cold in Skyrim. The typical Nord, for that matter, is eager to hone their combat skills, and what better way to whet themselves than siccing them against their enemies?
7 Treat Imperials, Dark Elves, And High Elves As Enemies
Speaking of Nord enemies, the current political situation in Skyrim puts them in conflict against Imperials, Dark Elves (Dunmer), and High Elves (Altmer). They hate the Altmer and the Imperials since both occupied Skyrim or did in the past.
Meanwhile, Nords simply hate all kinds of elves; apart from the High Elves, the other most ubiquitous kind of elves in Skyrim are the Dark Elves due to Morrowind's proximity to Skyrim. Wood Elves are luckily not that common in the region. If you must take some Dunmer, Altmer, or Imperial companion in your travels, make sure to do so with unease and prejudice, the kind that gives chemistry to cop duos in their formulaic shows.
6 Two-Handed Is The Way To Go
One quick glance at the Nord stat bonuses and it's clear what the developers want them to be. In most Elder Scrolls games, their best skill (the one with the biggest bonus) is usually Two-Handed. As such, staying true to the barbarian stereotype is a good call.
Give them a battle-ax or some great club fashioned out of dragon bone, just as long as that Two-Handed skill gets honed to perfection. You can forget about leveling up Magicka either as Nords don't like magic in general. So let's get to bashing skulls.
5 Ramp Up That Blacksmithing
Sure, you can simply loot off Volendrung from the hands of those filthy orcs, but that would make you reliant on the weapon of another race. That's not very Nord of you. Be a good native of Skyrim and forge your own weapons, will you?
Apart from being soldiers and warriors from the moment they were born, another popular profession amongst the Nords would be blacksmithing. The temperate treats and harvests of Cyrodiil might be absent in Skyrim but the mountains provide plenty of ore. Use that ore to smith some weapons of mass destruction and take food from neighboring provinces in Tamriel. Problem solved.
4 Pray To Talos
The current situation in Skyrim is that it was subjugated by the Imperials (Cyrodiil) and they banned the worship of Talos in order to appease the Thalmor (High Elves), which is another enemy of the Nords. You can probably guess why Talos is the current most popular god for the Nords in Skyrim's timeline.
Continuing to worship him despite the ban is practically hitting two birds with one stone and is a major disrespect for both the Imperials and the Thalmor. Make sure to wear Talos' amulets too while walking around in Solitude and keep your eyes peeled for some Shrines of Talos.
3 Battle Cry Is Greater Than Shouts
Turns out Nords have a natural aptitude for bellowing at their enemy. If they're not shouting them to death in dragon expletives, most Nords can use their Battle Cry to finish the fight before it even begins. This active racial skill makes the enemy flee.
Sure, Fus Ro Dah sounds more fun and can be used more than once per day, but not using your Battle Cry before each big fight is a wasted opportunity. How else would your enemies know that you're a true Nord? For more immersive roleplaying, you can utter some verbal components for the said Battle Cry, such as the classic "Skyrim belongs to the Nords," even if you're also killing fellow Nords.
2 Join The Stormcloaks
There are many factions in Skyrim, but the best representative of the Nords is none other than the Stormcloaks. They're the very embodiment of Nord culture. Their leader lives in Windhelm, which is colder and harsher than Solitude and they started the whole civil war after Talos was banned.
The Empire are merely tourists in Skyrim and thus don't care much for the customs and traditions of the Nords. The Stormcloaks might be a little rough around the edges, but they're the best hope Skyrim has when it comes to retaining its identity.
1 Join The Companions
One of the biggest goals for Nord bred and born in Skyrim is to gain access to the most luxurious afterlife social club in Tamriel, Sovngarde. It's essentially Valhalla but with less Valkryies and more mead. Thankfully, Skyrim lets you have insurance for sure entry in Sovngarde.
As a Nord, you need only join The Companions and perform some of the greatest heroic battle deeds worthy of bard's tales. Maybe stop short of turning into a werewolf, however, as Hircine might also lay claim to your soul and you might end up in the Great Hunt instead of in Sovngarde, which is a lot less prestigious or fragrant.