I have no authority on determining what is or isn't a Viking. I'm sorry.

I can tell you they aren't Norwegian Vikings though! That is my only authority.

From an actual Irish person:

@brodehouse: well my point, and I think the developers were thinking similarly, is that their culture (an economy built on conquest) is very much influenced by the Vikings (northern Europe) but their language is influenced by Gaelic (early Scots and Irish cultures) The question is, which one?

@getz: I think the answear is a bit of both and some other northern sounding languages aswell. Danny would ofc notice the Irish touches but that aint all there is to it.

@rethla: yeah I've been looking around at what others are saying and that seems to be the consensus; that it's actually both.

They seem to me to be a bit of a combination of several, North-western European nations.

The Dialect and Accent seems to be mostly Irish

The clan structure seems to come from the old Scottish clan structure.

The Naval/Raiding culture stems from classic Scandinavian Vikings. (I don't know enough about the individual countries to know, but i'm sure there are big differences between the individual countries.)

The Religious aspects seem to be a combination of all the different Pagan religions of pre christianity europe but including a lot of Scandinavian Paganisms key terms, names, and phrases.

The accents are Northern Irish

The culture is a mix of Scottish\Irish\Norse.

*A Scotsman who lived in Belfast for 5 years.

Their accents are so incredibly Northern Irish it sometimes hurts me. As for the culture and lore? They're norse vikings with some other stuff sprinkled in.

E: I like that 32% of people think Scottish people have Northern Irish accents. Don't tell people that if you ever to Scotland, they probably won't be too thrilled lol

I figured they were based on Icelandic vikings.

None of the above because they are polish

yup this. They aren't just an analog for a single culture.

We wouldn't be offended about that really, we are the reason the Northern Irish have that accent anyway.

Pretty cool to see and hear the minute details that went into it, creating an interesting diversity of culture that might go completely over the head of an American like me. We don't often get those kinds of dialects, or even blending of European cultures, in our forms of media. Really cool to see, and learn about alot of that stuff.

@firecracker22: Well the last big RPG was also vikings. Vikings are on the rise.

Im just gonna add that all the names of people and places in Skellige are roughly 70% old scandinavian names but they are pronounced in hilarious english accents which totaly messes up everything. Its like listening to the bombcast when they get letters from scandinavian people and have to awkwardly read their names all the time :)

Irish accent's and vernacular, more traditionally Scottish attire.

As a Scottish person, this isn't the case. Northern Ireland was basically colonized by Scottish people and many of them retain the Scots language. Granted, they have their own dialect (Ulster-Scots).

@dudeglove: Well the druidstuff is all around the witcher world.

They all sound like they're from Draperstown and Claudy...

As an Ulsterman it's really cool to have someone even approximate our accent in a game. It got a bit trying in Witcher 2 but they seem to have a lot more variety in the voice work this time round.

As SW Scotland and the north coast of Ireland are only 20-odd miles apart, families were inter-marrying in both directions long before the Plantation of Ulster. Accents in north Antrim and north Derry, to the untrained ear, are broad Scots. The rest of this place, not so much.

Everyone uses a lot of Scots phrases though.

The accents are 100% Irish, but the theme is a mixture of Celtic/Norse.

Nah, their Skellish.

I voted Scottish, but reading the comments here I realize I am most likely wrong.

Northern Ireland and Scotland are pretty much sister countries, we have a crap ton shared culture, religion and speech. Not just in modern times but all the way back to the ancient myths and stuff.

The answer is Yes...

http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Skellige

In the book Wieża Jaskółki (English: The Tower of the Swallow), the residents and the belief of Skellige largely resembles a mix between the real-world "Vikings" and Norse mythology and that of the ancient Irish and Scottish Cultures, with the residents of Skellige largely having Irish and Northern Irish accents. In this way the Skellige people almost certainly resemble the real historical people known as the Norse-Gaels who were a hybrid culture of the Irish and Norsemen.

From what little I've heard (others here in NI have been sending the video around) they're 100% Northern Irish, which is a very distinct accent from regular Irish or Scottish. (Well, there are actually like 20 different accents even within NI itself but that's a whole other story)

Actually I would say specifically the regional dialect most common would be Northern Irish, there are a few accents in there that would be common in the South/Republic of Ireland, but not as many.

Given the huge range of accents here ( and I mean you only have to go a mile in any direction to hear variance) it would tough to cover everything!