The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Headless Horsemen
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” was written in 1820 by Washington Irving. It was first published in his collection of essays titled, "The Sketch Book Of Geoffrey Crayon, Esquire." It tells the story of Ichabod Crane, a superstitious schoolmaster from Connecticut who goes to Sleepy Hollow where he competes with Abraham “Brom Bones” Van Brunt for the hand of 18 year old Katrina Van Tassel. He soon encounters the headless horseman, a fallen soldier who had lost his head and is searching for it. It is considered to be one of America’s first ghost stories, however the idea of a headless horseman has been around long before that. Let’s explore some of the stories that could have inspired “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”.
There are stories from Celtic mythology and even the Brothers Grimm had their own stories of headless riders. The Dutch and Irish have a story of the Dullahan or Gan Ceannn, a grim reaper-like horseman who also carried his head. It is said that he is the embodiment of the Celtic God, Crom Cruach. Celtic King Tighermas worshiped Crom Cruach, who demanded human sacrifices in his name and decapitation was the preferred way. The Metrical Dindshenchas is a collection of ancient texts that describes the people giving up their firstborns in return for rich harvests. Children’s heads would be smashed on a worshiping stone in the name of Crom Cruach. The stone was called the Killycluggin Stone and was meant to represent Crom Cruach. In the 6th Century St. Patrick is said to have found the stone and smashed part of it, in doing so he was able to banish the dark lord and end the pagan sacrificial religion. The stone now sits inside the Cavan County Museum. Many believe that when Crom Cruach was banished that the Dullahan began to appear, it was a new form of their old god. The Dullahan is said to have a sinister grin which goes from each side of the head, has moldy cheese-like skin and calls out the name of their victim, taking away their soul and leaving them dead.
Germany also has stories of headless riders, a more famous one being, “Hans Jagendteufel,” which was published by the Brothers Grimm. It is a story set near Dresden where a woman gathering acorns in a place called "Lost Waters", when she hears a haunting horn and turns to see a headless horseman, a “haunting devil”, standing over her. The horseman then rides past her and she continues to pick her acorns and then goes home undisturbed. Nine days go past and she returns to "Lost Waters" where she once again encounters the headless horseman who goes on to share his story with her. He lived one hundred and thirty years before and was a wealthy man whose father once warned him about the importance of being kind to the poor; however the young man had other priorities such as drinking and gallivanting about. As punishment for not adhering to his father's advice he is cursed to wander the world as an evil spirit.
There is an Arthurian poem written by an anonymous writer, “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight” which tells the story of a green knight who comes to King Arthur’s court and challenges the knights to behead him. Sir Gawain accepts the challenge and when he beheads the knight the Green Knight does not fall, instead he picks up his bloody head and gives it to Queen Guinevere and also reminds Sir Gawain that they will meet once more at Green Chapel. As the time approaches Sir Gawain sets out to Green Chapel, on his travels he encounters a castle and the lord of the castle invites him to stay. Sir Gawain then goes on to meet the Green Knight where he discovers that the Green Knight is the lord of the castle. This had all been a trick constructed by the sorceress Morgan le Fay, King Arthur’s step sister, who was trying to frighten Queen Guinevere to death. Although this is not the only Arthurian poem/story about headless riders, it is the most well known. There are dozens more, most of them coming from Ireland and Scotland.
Although there are many stories that Washington Irving could have gotten inspiration from, historian Elizabeth Bradley believes that the most likely sources for Irving’s work can be found in Sir Walter Scott’s 1796 “The Chase”, a translation based on the German poem The Wild Huntsman by Gottfried Bürger. Sir Walter Scott and Washington Irving had become friends in 1817 and it is possible that his friend may have inspired him. The other possible source of inspiration could have been from his youth, Irving grew up in Tarrytown, a sheltered village on the banks of the Hudson River in Westchester, NY. There was a story of a Hessian soldier who died during The Revolutionary War at the Battle of White Plains; Major General William Heath of the American army recalled in his memoir that on November 1, 1776 “a shot from the American cannon at this place took off the head of a Hessian artilleryman. They also left one of the horses dead on the field.” The soldier was buried, headless, in the churchyard of Sleepy Hollow.
There are many stories which could have inspired Washington’s Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I personally agree with Elizabeth Bradley and think that the local tale of the fallen Hessian soldier may have been one of the main sources behind it. Irving’s work is widely known by most Americans and even inspired the town of North Tarrytown to rename itself Sleepy Hollow in 1996. The headless horseman is the mascot of the town and can be found everywhere.
What do you think about the headless horseman? Do you think it was based on the Hessian soldier or did Irving find inspiration elsewhere? Do you know other stories of a headless horseman? Leave a comment below.
Sources:
https://www.history.com/news/legend-sleepy-hollow-headless-horseman
https://www.theirishplace.com/heritage/the-dullahan/
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/03/30/headless-horseman-2/
https://www.worldoftales.com/European_folktales/German_folktale_23.html#gsc.tab=0
https://emergingrevolutionarywar.org/2016/10/30/the-headless-horseman-and-the-revolutionary-war/
https://historydetectives.nyhistory.org/2013/10/halloween-history-the-legend-of-sleepy-hollow/
Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving (Awesome Audiobooks)
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