Skyrim player watches Dragon kill a mammoth by hoisting it into the air

Bethesda
(Image credit: Bethesda)

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim made such a wide impact when it launched in 2011, and one of the great things about diving into the craze was hearing about all the stories and events that other players got to experience. With such an expansive world packed with a variety of monsters to fight and characters to uncover, it's genuinely a world filled to the brim with so many opportunities to see some truly bizarre yet still compelling encounters.

Even as developer Bethesda has moved on to two other sprawling RPGs, Fallout 4 and Starfield, players are still finding a lot to appreciate with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as they wait for The Elder Scrolls 6. But recently, one such player that returned to the game shared on the Skyrim Reddit an unusual encounter he witnessed with a roaming dragon and a mammoth -- something that many players never though would happen.

In all my years of playing this game I've never seen this happen before. Blew my mind. from r/skyrim

Initially shared by user Carg72, he witnessed a hostile encounter with a Dragon and Mammoth, two of the most prominent enemies to encounter in the game. While it's common to see hostile enemies fight amongst each other in the wild -- players have had a lot of fun over the years seeing Giants use their club to smash monsters into the air -- this Dragon vs. Mammoth fight is a bit different because the Dragon lifts it into the air.

Dragons in Skyrim have various attacks to use, and grabbing is a known one. However, that's usually only for smaller human enemies, so seeing them try it out on a larger foe is very bizarre. In the case of the Mammoth, it was not at all equipped to deal with the situation.

In the Reddit post, some other users also showed bewilderment at the event. User knightsolaire2 stated, "This has to be the first recorded footage of this since the release! That's crazy how, after a decade, people still are finding new things." However, another user named ForgedRaven claimed to have seen the event before but only found skepticism from other players; "I saw this the first year Skyrim was out, near the fields of Whiterun. No one believed me!"

This bizarre event and the attention it has garnered on the Skyrim Reddit serves as a good reminder of the staying power of Skyrim. Despite newer and more ambitious games coming out in recent years, many players still return to Bethesda's well-loved RPG because it always surprises people with something strange to find -- especially with the amount of ambitious mods still being released for the game. And 13 years after its release, people still find a lot of weird in Skyrim.

If you're looking to venture back to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, then it's readily available on all platforms. But if you're looking other games that can scratch that same itch, then check out our roundup of RPGs that satisfy your need for adventure.

Alessandro Fillari

Alessandro is a freelance writer and editor based in the San Francisco Bay Area who has covered the games, tech, and entertainment industries for more than 13 years. Having previously worked at GameSpot, CNET, and various other outlets writing features and coordinating event coverage, Alessandro enjoys playing games on PC, but also gives plenty of time to his Nintendo Switch. You can find him on various socials at @afillari.