With games like Elden Ring taking over the industry, and previous RPG hits like The Witcher becoming multi-media franchises, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim still stands as one of the greatest RPG video games of all time. The fanbase is dedicated, and many still play the game now over ten years after its initial release (and a few months after its second remaster).
One of the many reasons for the game's immense popularity was the sheer amount of content it held. Aside from the main storyline, there were dozens of hours of side quests, stories, and an infinite amount of exploration to be done. The game's details were not lost on the fans, with various Reddit threads starting since the game's release to share the discoveries of the community.
The Headless Horseman Is Ragnar The Red
Any player of the Skyrim games has had the Ragnar the Red song stuck in their head at least once, as bard NPCs around the world will frequently perform it. To summarize, Ragnar wins some battles, goes bragging, then loses his head in a fight.
Redditor Oggie243 connects that "Ragnar is apparently buried at Hamvirs rest," which is the location the Headless Horseman leads the player to in the game. There's also the connection, of course, of the two both lacking heads.
A Red Mountain Flower
Dawnstar is one of the northernmost locations in Skyrim, and some fans have noted that when a resident is killed, a red mountain flower is placed on the steps of the region's capital building, the White Hall. This sort of immersion is what draws so many to Skyrim, as it introduces gamers to the culture of this particular region.
Not only is the flower placed in Dawnstar, but some zones have crypts that are updated with the region's fallen civilians. The original poster, CrzdHaloman, notes "I noticed that every time a vampire attack happened in Dawnstar and they killed a guard or other resident, that flower would show up on the Jarl's front steps."
Wolf Truce
One of the popular side quest storylines in Skyrim is the Companions storyline in Whiterun, which allows the Dragonborn to become a Werewolf at the end after a blood ritual. Allowing the user to transform once a day, being a Werewolf gives significant benefits.
One of the more subtle buffs of being one, however, revealed by poster OccupyTamreil, is that "Wolves don't attack you when you are a werewolf." This is a handy trick, as wilderness animals can be a nuisance when traveling and exploring the beautiful landscape of Skyrim.
Hidden Gems
Redditor DCP23 reveals a secret that is, although not so secretive, extremely helpful, saying "There is an abandoned boat in the Karth river not far from Markarth filled with gems." Finding expensive loot can be a major boost in any run through, so traveling to Markarth for this boatload is worth the time.
Owning enough money to get everything needed is extremely important, especially in the early game. Markarth isn't hard to get to early on, as the character Calcelmo will aim to task the Dragonborn with searching for Dwemer artifacts for his museum in the city.
Ulfric Stormcloak
Ulfric is one of the first characters met in Skyrim, as the game opens with the Dragonborn about to spectate his execution before it's interrupted by the dragon attack. One detail noticed was the gag over his mouth, which players would later realize is to prevent him from using the voice.
Another Ulfric detail, pointed out by MerCrier, is that when he's sleeping, Ulfric will hum 'The Age of Oppression,' another song commonly heard around Skyrim. Apparently, the jingle got stuck in Ulfric's head, as it's commonly affiliated with the Stormcloak faction, as opposed to 'The Age of Aggression' which declares Ulfric a "killer of kings."
Notched Pickaxe
One of the more well-known hidden details in Skyrim, and also seemingly a reference to Minecraft, is the Notched Pickaxe. The Pickaxe is atop the world of Skyrim's highest peak, the Throat of the World, and is completely unique and only obtainable after completing the questline of the same name.
Redditor lukef555 insisted the item was a Minecraft Easter egg, since there are many other gaming and pop-culture Easter eggs throughout the world, to franchises like Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. The pickaxe is also one of the best hidden locations in Skyrim.
Excalibur
Speaking of references to other stories and media, another hidden location is the sword in the stone, a small location in the Rebel's Cairn cave. Players might stumble upon the spot if they're working on "The Legend of Red Eagle" questline.
This is one of two references to the lore of King Arthur, the other being the sword held up by a skeleton arm near Halted Steam Camp, which was noticed by Redditor LonelyMachines. These swords are unobtainable, but offer fun world-building aspects to the game.
Orc Armor
Redditor Syene notes that "Despite Orcish armor being one of the better armor sets, the Orcs tend not to wear a complete set." Comments deduced that this is likely due to their aggressive and agile fighting style, and because Orcs rely heavily on their combat skills, wearing a full set of armor would be a sign of weakness.
This is common among fantasy series like Game of Thrones for example, where Dothraki, who are seen as some of the strongest warriors, prefer to not wear armor and use their speed and natural strength to win battles.
The Safest City In The Reach
The first thing someone hears when entering the city of Markarth is "Welcome to Markarth, traveler. Safest city in the Reach." Perfectly on cue, an assassin will run up and try to kill a woman right in front of the player. Aside from the irony of this, there's more to it than what meets the eye.
Redditor Cirri says "I always make it a goal to kill the assassin in Markarth before he kills the woman." While she claims to not know why an assassin was after her, the woman, Margret, is actually a Nordic spy, which can be revealed by her journal.
Lycanthropy
According to Redditor dbbo, Lycanthropy (the werewolf conversion) is actually a disease, despite the buffs it grants. They say "From the game engine standpoint, lycanthropy is a disease. Same with vampirism." But they aren't the only one to think that. The Silver Hand do as well, and are fully devoted to bringing down werewolves.
As the Dragonborn meets them through the side quests, they may come to note that almost every Silver Hand carries Cure Disease potions with them, in the case of potential lycanthropy infection. The werewolf questline is one of the best side quests in Skyrim.