Actually, the Icelandic elves - it's pretty wonderful to read about them, and not just because they played a big part in the inspiration of Tolkien's elves - do not have the hollow backs of their Scandinavian counterparts. When it comes to creatures with a penchant for tricking humans, they do however need to have some defining characteristic in order for the humans to be able to escape them. For some strange reason, some sources concerning Icelandic elves claim that they don't have a nasal septum, though not many people know this now (maybe because, like the hollow backs, it just doesn't sound all that attractive). They do lure people into their hills/cliffs like the scandinavian elves, and they leave changelings as well, but for the most part they live peacefully alongside humans, despite the occasional strife on account of humans accidentally herding the elves' sheep by mistake. Also interesting - in the Norse mythology, the elves live with the gods, and many scholars within the field have theorised that the elves are in fact the Vanir. The Vanir were a race of gods preceding the Aesir, more primitive and connected with nature. After much fighting, the Aesir took over, and the Vanir became minor deities (very similar to the Titans and Olympians), and the theory goes that they devolved into the elves we know today. Also, just a final point, the majority of Icelanders still believe in elves. No joke.
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Actually, the Icelandic elves - it's pretty wonderful to read about them, and not just because they played a big part in the inspiration of Tolkien's elves - do not have the hollow backs of their Scandinavian counterparts. When it comes to creatures with a penchant for tricking humans, they do however need to have some defining characteristic in order for the humans to be able to escape them. For some strange reason, some sources concerning Icelandic elves claim that they don't have a nasal septum, though not many people know this now (maybe because, like the hollow backs, it just doesn't sound all that attractive). They do lure people into their hills/cliffs like the scandinavian elves, and they leave changelings as well, but for the most part they live peacefully alongside humans, despite the occasional strife on account of humans accidentally herding the elves' sheep by mistake. Also interesting - in the Norse mythology, the elves live with the gods, and many scholars within the field have theorised that the elves are in fact the Vanir. The Vanir were a race of gods preceding the Aesir, more primitive and connected with nature. After much fighting, the Aesir took over, and the Vanir became minor deities (very similar to the Titans and Olympians), and the theory goes that they devolved into the elves we know today. Also, just a final point, the majority of Icelanders still believe in elves. No joke.