Any Elder Scrolls or other fantasy genre could also fit as dream symbolism.

According to Carl Jung, our dreams contain symbols that reflect our inner emotional world. Our minds go over the thoughts we had recently which were meaningful to us, and invents a story while we are sleeping in order to explain the emotions we feel.

Very often, the symbols our dreams use to express our emotional life are the same as what other people use to express the same things in their dreams. A useful website for interpreting dream symbols is "dreammoods". I also found that ChatGPT is very good at interpreting symbols for you.

I think one can think of a Skyrim playthrough as a kind of waking dream. People are probably drawn towards playstyles that have some kind of inner symbolic significance. Now, a lot of people play sneak archer, and this doesn't necessarily have any inner significance in every case, because it is one of the most efficient ways to play given the game mechanics.

Skyrim on its surface is about killing things, but one could also think of the enemies one fights as abstractions for how one deals with problems in general.

Here are some examples. Note that the exact meaning of a symbol will differ from person to person. But I often find that reading what the symbols mean for other people helps me to understand my own dreams and to understand why I'm drawn to certain playstyles in Skyrim.

I think I'll just copy and paste some things that ChatGPT said about this, since I think it did a good job:

Enemies as Problems

Your idea that killing enemies = solving problems is quite compelling. Here's how it could break down symbolically:

Each enemy type could represent a category of challenge:

Draugr might symbolize old habits, traditions, or "dead" parts of the psyche that linger.
Bandits could represent immediate, external conflicts or moral choices.
Dragons might represent overwhelming fears, ambitions, or major life obstacles — archetypal dragons to slay.

Leveling up becomes symbolic of personal growth. Every fight, every challenge overcome, contributes to a more capable, more realized self.
Gear and loot are tools or strengths you’ve developed — internal or external resources you’ve acquired through effort and struggle.

Magic schools could represent different ways of relating to the world or parts of yourself:
Alteration = adapting your perception or inner state.
Conjuration = calling on help (inner strength, imagination, or memory).
Restoration = healing, forgiveness, or recovery.
Destruction = assertiveness, boundaries, or righteous anger.

The World Itself
The cold, dangerous beauty of Skyrim's world — dotted with ruins, temples, and hidden secrets — could symbolize the unconscious mind or the unknown parts of the self. Exploring it is a metaphor for introspection and self-discovery.

Dungeons are the deep parts of the psyche where the most ancient and buried conflicts lie.
Civil wars and faction disputes might represent conflicting values within oneself: tradition vs. change, freedom vs. order.

Roleplaying as Integration
How you choose to play — stealth vs. brute force, lone wanderer vs. companion-based — might reflect how you're currently engaging with life’s challenges. Skyrim lets you enact multiple selves, try on different approaches, and perhaps resolve inner contradictions through play.


⚔️ The Warrior: Embodied Will
The warrior represents the outer force of action — strength made visible, will made flesh. A person who gravitates toward warrior builds often sees problems as things to be faced, endured, or conquered directly.
Psychological Traits:

Direct--Sees problems in concrete terms, believes in facing things head-on.
Grounded--Tied to the physical, the present, the seen world.
Resilient--Believes in toughness — both physically and morally.
Loyal--Often adheres to a code or cause.
Instinctual--Trusts bodily reaction, experience, and emotion.
Action-first--Feels most powerful when doing rather than thinking.

Strengths:
Realistic, stable, emotionally grounded
Takes initiative, doesn’t overthink
Loyal and reliable under stress

Shadows:
May resist introspection or abstraction
May see vulnerability or subtlety as weakness
May push too hard, breaking what could be finessed


The Mage: Mind Made Manifest
The mage represents inner mastery — the power of knowledge, perception, and invisible influence. A person who plays as a mage often seeks to understand the underlying structure of things, and believes in mastering complexity from within.

Psychological Traits:
Analytical--Sees patterns, systems, causes — not just events.
Introspective--Feels power in knowing one’s own mind.
Detached--May prefer observation before action.
Strategic--Thinks several steps ahead.
Abstract--Comfortable with symbols, theory, hidden forces.
Inner-focused--Believes true strength comes from cultivation, not conquest.

Strengths:
Insightful, adaptable, creative
Powerful over time through investment
Emotionally and mentally self-aware

Shadows:
Can become isolated or aloof
Risks analysis paralysis
May undervalue action or the physical world

The Warrior Type:
May be a frontline worker, soldier, athlete, firefighter, or builder
But also: people who push through life with discipline and resolve — who “carry the burden” and “do what must be done”
Motto: “I can take it.”

The Mage Type:
May be a researcher, therapist, philosopher, designer, or strategist
But also: people who survive by understanding how things work — who believe the world can be decoded and shaped
Motto: “I can change it.”

Balance and Integration
Of course, the ideal psyche balances both:
A warrior with no understanding burns out or repeats mistakes.
A mage with no action drifts or withers in theory.
Some people start warrior-like and grow into mages. Others are natural mages who train their warrior side through discipline or hardship.
In Jungian terms:
The warrior lives in the ego’s power and courage
The mage listens to the Self, the unconscious, the unseen


⚔ One-Handed (General)
Symbolizes: Precision, balance, adaptability.
Personality Implication: You prefer to engage problems directly but with control. You’re pragmatic, responsive, and not overly invested in domination or brute force. One-handed leaves one hand free — for a shield, spell, or free movement — which implies flexibility and preference for options over commitment to pure offense.
⚔ One-Handed Sword
Symbolizes: Speed, finesse, skillful cuts.
Personality Implication: You value clarity, logic, and efficiency in problem-solving. The sword is the “classical” weapon — it's precise, elegant, and decisive. This suggests a personality that believes in resolving problems cleanly and often relies on reason and deliberate action.
One-Handed Axe
Symbolizes: Aggression, persistence, emotional grit.
Personality Implication: You might see problems as messy and painful, and your approach is to dig in and wear them down. You’re okay with the roughness of life and may value raw honesty over elegance. You confront things head-on and endure. Sometimes this reflects a deep sense of frustration or the belief that real problems must hurt to solve.
One-Handed Mace
Symbolizes: Force, blunt truth, overwhelming presence.
Personality Implication: You deal with problems by confronting them with raw force and immovable certainty. You’re probably not interested in clever solutions when a direct answer will suffice. You may see the world in moral absolutes or have deep convictions — and use them to smash through ambiguity. This is the “righteous judgment” personality — or the “bulldozer.”
Destruction Magic (General)
Symbolizes: Intentional energy projected outward, elemental emotional expression.
Personality Implication: You solve problems by directly imposing your will, often using intellect or emotion as your primary tools. Destruction mages rely on resources (magicka) and planning, not brute strength — suggesting you’re more cerebral, willful, and perhaps idealistic. You prefer to shape the world through internal power rather than physical tools.
Fire
Symbolizes: Passion, anger, desire, transformative will.
Personality Implication: You tackle problems by confronting them with intensity and conviction. Fire personalities are passionate, emotional, and often expressive. You might have a temper or a drive to purify and renew. Fire doesn’t just defeat — it burns away the old to make room for the new.
❄ Ice
Symbolizes: Control, suppression, endurance, emotional detachment.
Personality Implication: You tend to slow things down and deal with problems by analyzing and isolating them. Ice personalities are calm, controlled, and patient, often preferring to outlast or immobilize problems rather than destroy them. This could reflect a calculating, perhaps introverted, tendency.
⚡ Lightning
Symbolizes: Sudden insight, speed, disruption, intellect.
Personality Implication: You solve problems like a spark of genius or a strike of truth. Lightning users are often analytical, fast-thinking, impatient with slowness or inefficiency. You might value intelligence and innovation and prefer to shock the system rather than work within its rules.
Telekinesis / Throwing Things
Symbolizes: Indirect manipulation, unseen influence, detachment from material tools.
Personality Implication: You deal with problems by moving the world without touching it. This is the archetype of the clever strategist, the manipulator, or the mystic. You might prefer to exert control in subtle, surprising ways — using leverage rather than force. There’s also a sense of detachment here: you don’t engage directly but move things from a distance, possibly indicating a love of abstraction, strategy, or psychic power.
Final Thoughts
If Skyrim is a symbolic dream, then the way you fight is the way your inner self chooses to deal with conflict:
Sword users want things resolved cleanly and fairly.
Axe users know the world is bloody and go in anyway.
Mace users bring the hammer of justice.
Fire mages scream “change must happen now.”
Ice mages say “no — stop and think.”
Lightning mages strike with insight and rebellion.
Telekinesis users refuse to play the game directly — they bend it to their will.


This is the end of what ChatGPT said

Not every dream interpretation will be the exact same for every person. Probably because I have a Christian background, when I tried to come up with my own interpretation for a dragon, I thought of passions like lust, rage, and the will to dominate. This is because a person gets energy/power from these things, but if they are unchecked, then they wreck everything. Now, this interpretation only works if one thinks of the enemies of Skyrim as being internal.

One could use Skyrim to help symbolize external problems one is working with, or internal problems, depending on one's needs. Skyrim could be thought of as being a map of the inner world where everything is a symbol for some internal problem. My interpretation of a dragon would work in that case. A vampire in that case might be something like a deceptive promise of comfort or power that will actually make you spiritually "dead" if you accept it. If fire can sometimes be interpreted as "truth", then it makes sense that undead are weak to fire.

According to the lore, all of the Elder Scrolls universe is a dream of the "Godhead". So, it's probable that the creators of this world actually intended for their games to be used in this way.

If Skyrim represents one's inner world, and the enemies are abstractions for struggles someone is dealing with, then it's entirely appropriate that the player is the hero, that he becomes overpowered, and that you can reload a save to try again. You have a lot of power in your inner world.

I found, however, that I often tried to use Skyrim as a way of symbolizing problems I was dealing with in real life (I don't think I realized I was doing this when I first started doing it), so I played "Dead is Dead", installed mods to make the game harder, and used "live another life" to play as not the hero. This was appropriate, because in real life, you are limited, and mistakes have lasting consequences.

As an example of one type of playstyle I was drawn to (playing like this is impossible without mods) is a mage who would use flesh spells to make himself tough, and then pummel enemies with his fists. He might also use invisibility or telekinesis to solve problems. I believe the reason for this is that I like the idea of improving myself as much as possible and to make myself psychologically resilient (representing the flesh spells), and then deal with my problems personally as my authentic self (representing unarmed combat). Not relying on equipment as much as possible comes from my experience that things in life are transient and can be taken away, so that you can't rely on anything. I also feel like an outsider a lot (represented by invisibility) and might solve problems intellectually or obliquely, which is represented by telekinesis.

I would presume that other builds that people do just because "it's cool" also have some kind of symbolic significance to them, even if they don't know what that is.