Finally Bethesda has released the official requirements: http://www.bethblog.com/index.php/2011/10/25/skyrim-system-requirements-announced/
Recommended Specs
- Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
- Processor: Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU
- 4GB System RAM
- 6GB free HDD space
- DirectX 9 compatible NVIDIA or AMD ATI video card with 1GB of RAM (Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 or higher; ATI Radeon 4890 or higher)
- DirectX compatible sound card
- Internet access for Steam activation
Minimum Specs
- Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
- Processor: Dual Core 2.0GHz or equivalent processor
- 2GB System RAM
- 6GB free HDD Space
- Direct X 9 compliant video card with 512 MB of RAM
- DirectX compatible sound card
- Internet access for Steam activation
Skyrim takes place 200 years after the end of the last game, Oblivion.
Because it takes place so far from the rest of the games in the series (both temporally and geographically), there are few characters or locations that are relevant to any of the past games.
That doesn't mean that Skyrim has nothing to offer the stalwart Elder Scrolls fan, though.
The Dark Brotherhood, for instance, a player-joinable group of assassins-for-hire, returns in Skyrim, as do the Daedric Princes (or at least minor shrines devoted to them, manned by their followers.)
Even Alduin, the big-bad of Skyrim shows up in the lore of previous Elder Scrolls games, though the rest of the empire thinks he's the Aedra Akatosh. (He's actually his firstborn son)
If you're looking for a general history of Tamriel, the realm in which The Elder Scrolls takes place, the UESP has you covered there too.
But most of that is ancillary to the game itself. Skyrim was not designed as the 5th game in an ongoing series, but as a game able to stand on its own two feet. Even if you've never set foot on Nirn before, Skyrim will welcome you into its lore all the same!
Best Answer
The Wiki has no information on it, so it's safe to say there is no lore. There is no particular reason why anyone would remove it, so it likely still stands in timespan of TESV.