Hello,

Here I am, a common new player to the elder scrolls series. The reason I am asking this question is I am getting Skyrim this Christmas but don't know anything about the story of the Elder Scrolls. Can someone please tell me anything I need to know about the story so that I won't be completely lost starting to play the game? But please... NO SPOILERS ABOUT SKYRIM PLEASE!! one more thing, all i need are the to the bone basics of the story. I plan on getting the other elder scrolls games. Just the basics i need in order to understand who the main character(s) is or are. Thanks.

The thing about the Elder Scrolls series is you don't really need to play any of the previous games to understand any of the ones in the main story. They are each self-contained in their plot and characters. Everything you need to know to understand Skyrim's plot will be outlined in the main quest itself, as well as through various books you can find and read in-game.

Every Elder Scrolls game has a different story relating to it's province that is almost unrelated to the plot of the last game. However, they are all related through the Elder Scroll, which stated that these events (plots from the last four games; Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind, Oblivion) must take place for the plot of Skyrim to happen. Long story short, there is no over-arching story with the series other than an Elder Scroll predicted these events to happen and that each event has a hero (you). An Elder Scroll is a mystical artifact that reveals the past present and future of Nirn "the world" and it's events. There are an unknown amount of these scrolls.

To find out the plot of the last four games and more history of the games, http://www.imperial-library.info/.

Hey! To begin with, welcome to the forum!
The Elder Scrolls games themselves do not specifically rely on each other for any sort of understanding - each can be played and enjoyed separately. If you've not played any of the games it would be horrible for me to give away plot lines but the games are very rich in history and lore. It's fun to read and learn about the lore behind the games although I'd probably suggest playing at least Oblivion since most of the games (excluding Skyrim which is set 200 Years in the future) are set within 40-50 years.

http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline this should cover it, when i first started learning the lore it took me forever to understand some of the concepts so browse some of the wikis

It is not required to play an older game of the series to get to a new one as others said too,but note that it is all recorded in the history of the games.
What you do with your character in one game,might be written inside a book in the next game.
In the end all of the games say the same story: They record the history of the Empire and Nirn across the centuries.
Things happening.. Wars between the races,wars between factions,wars between gods and demons...
In one game you are some person but in the other you are another.
But that doesn't mean that your character from the past game never existed in the same world as your character in the new one...
Now allow me to tell you some very basic things you might wanna know:

About the scrolls:
The Elder Scrolls are some kind of Scrolls that existed since ever,and on them is written everything that happened,that is happening and that will happen.
They hold supernatural powers and for centuries where kept under heavy security in the Imperial City,and the only ones that had access to them where Moth priests.
But when the Imperial City was attacked and the White Gold Tower that holded the Scrolls was looted by the Thalmor,the Scrolls where spread.We don't know where they are now.

About the Thalmor:
The Thalmor are an organization of High Elves that made a militairy coup in Summerset Isle,and then started plotting against the Empire.
They sent agents to manipulate and indoctrinate the other races and managed to make Argonians and Khajit to leave the Empire.
Their plans where helped somewhat from a physical disaster too,when a commet fell on Vanderfell and the Volcano errupted killing many of the Dark Elf population.
The Thalmor want to take over the world,started war against the Empire,and signed a peace treaty with it,with rules that are considered by many Nords as treacherous.

The 9 (or 8) Divines and the Daedra:
The 9 divines and the Daedra are of the same form but there is a difference between them.
The 8 divines are also known as "Aedra" and Aedra where those that took part in the creation of the mortal world. Mortals thank the 8 divines because they created them.
The 9th divine is Talos,a man who isn't an Aedra,but he was a Nord hero that through his actions achieved immortality and thus mortals started worshipping him.
Daedra have similar powers and attributes with Aedra,but when the Aedra decided to build the mortal world,Daedra denied to take part in it.
Daedra are concieved as demons by the people of Tamriel.

The Dark Brotherhood:
Killers who are paid for murder contracts..
They like spooky places and gothic clothes.

There are more things,but you'd better go to uesp.net and start reading wiki pages there.
It's a good site.

Actually... I think most relevant... The "basic Elder Scrolls Story" is this:

You are a member one of ten different races. You're in a massive world, in this case, it's Skyrim. You're free to be who you want and do what you want. You can save the world one of two ways - Either finishing the main quest, or not starting it at all - the bad guys will wait.

Errr...isn't skyrim 200 yrs in the future

Yeah. Sorry it was a typo, I was thinking ahead of myself and confused the 40 and the 200.

Pretty much this. Knowledge of the previous games will enhance your experience, as history is an important aspect of the game for immersion purposes, but not for the basic purpose of understanding the story of this single game Skyrim. If you choose to learn about the previous games, there are lots of history books laying around in Skyrim. And the internet has lore pages which go into even more detail and explanation and interpretation.