Yes, it's normal for elephant ear bulbs to be rootless. They are dormant over the winter. I can't remember exactly how long it takes for them to sprout, but it seems to take forever, maybe it's only a few weeks. They love hot weather, so if you want to start them indoors, put them in a warm place. Otherwise, plant them outdoors after the soil warms up in the spring.

I stuck a few of them in a shady part of my garden. Days have warmed up to the 70s, but nights are still quite cool (no frost). I keep them watered fairly regularly, but don't expect them to do much until the nights stay above 60 or so, same as my lawn. I did some digging to check on them and they're still firm. Perhaps they're growing roots? I didn't dig that far. At any rate, I just wanted to chime in to say that mine are kind of boring right now, too.

It will take 6 weeks from planting in a big pot till you see your first leaf. That is if it spends that 6 weeks in a room of at least 70 degrees f or warmer. I always like to get an early start so I potted up 17 different ones last week. I have 4 that I kept going all winter in the house.
primitive

Those big hard bulbs can rot if planted in cold wet soil where nothing happens for weeks. They over winter in the garden here even though the soil is cold and wet all winter. Plants in the ground having grown roots last summer will not rot, but bulbs with no roots will easily rot in the same conditions. Al