In the popular video game Skyrim, guards in the cities that exist within the game will say the following "I used to be an adventurer like you, until I took an arrow to the Knee".
As the game grew in popularity so did this phrase along with it. I use to think it was just some quirky funny dialog they threw in there, but I recently saw something that claims the "Arrow to the knee" part is actually from Nordic/viking slang meaning to either be engaged or to be married. Supposedly it alludes to how you get down on one knee when you propose, similarly to how you get down on one knee after being shot by in the knee by an arrow during battle.
The game does heavily borrow from Nordic/viking culture, even including the title of Jarl for chieftains/mayors of the cities, towns and villages you visit in the game, so I would no be too surprised if this phrase really does have it's roots from Nordic culture. Could anybody tell me if this is true or not, or at least shed some more light on it for me?
From what I have read, Bethesda stated that the phrase was just something they made up. Here's an article where they talk about it
This Tumblr post states that: 'it was unlikely that they (Women in the Viking times) were held so highly that men would see marriage as something “crippling” as the arrow-to-the-knee joke suggests'
So yeah, in my eyes, it doesn't seem like it was derived from actual history.