The vast open world of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is full of named locations and landmarks, but one fan has created a blank map of the snowy in-game world. Although Skyrim was originally released in 2011 with a parchment map in the retail box, this Elder Scrolls fan wasn't content with the official maps and decided to make a unique one of their own.
A Reddit user has taken the main map of Skyrim and redesigned it with a minimalist approach, removing any markers that may indicate where most places are and the names of major cities. As players continue to discover unique areas in Skyrim, others craft incredible works of art in their celebration of the popular Bethesda RPG. The open world of Skyrim provides players with the ability to explore limitlessly almost immediately after leaving Helgen, but this fan may prefer a fully uncluttered map over the one that fills with each location that's discovered.
Reddit user ThePikol has garnered over 600 upvotes on their replica of the Skyrim map on parchment that shares similarities with other fan art and the one that came boxed with the game in 2011. The map shows the overall shape of the map, the mountain ranges, lakes, rivers, geological lines, and icons that represent the big cities of Skyrim like Whiterun, Markarth, and Solitude. Though the map also shows a handful of smaller settlements like Rorikstead and Riverwood, no names indicate which marker means what, leaving Skyrim fans to rely on their memory of the RPG.
ThePikol's map neglects to mention any names of the settlements or cities, with only small symbols showing where the bigger locations are like the horse head icon representing Skyrim's Whiterun and a shield with the head of a wolf reflecting Solitude. While ThePikol's Skyrim map doesn't share many similarities with the in-game map that quickly fills with various named landmarks, it may resemble a rough draft that Bethesda Softworks could have used to gauge how far the different points of interest should be from each other or how vast the landscape should be. Because of the confusion that could ensue with a map like this being flipped upside down, a compass is included in the corner so that the north can always be found.
ThePikol isn't the only fan to create their own version of the in-game Skyrim map as others have interpreted it with colored pencils, carved it into wood, and there are ones that highlight chests, shouts, and more. Thanks to the Skyrim DLC, there are some areas of the explorable map that aren't included in ThePikol's version which may mean that a Solstheim or Dawnguard map will be dropped in the future.
The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.