Or perhaps a headless ghost spirited him away, as legend has it. Perhaps he was the victim of a cruel prank. Perhaps Brom had something to do with his disappearance. Whatever happened to Ichabod? No one knows for sure. His hat was found trampled on the path, and the slimy remains of a pumpkin were found nearby. After his disappearance, his horse was found grazing in a nearby pasture. He left the party wondering whether he had been the target of a cruel joke by all of the partygoers. He is also frightened by tales of spirits and strange happenings in Tarry Town. During the festivities, he was humiliated by Brom Van Brunt, Ichabod’s egotistical rival. Legend has it that he is the victim of the dreaded ‘headless horseman’ who allegedly haunts Sleepy Hollow.īefore his disappearance, Ichabod had been at a party at the home of Katrina Van Tassel, a young lady with whom Ichabod was much smitten. Ichabod Crane, a well-educated teacher who comes to live in Tarry Town, meets a mysterious fate.

'The ‘Legend’ lends itself to any interpretation, and it continues to fascinate and terrify us in the best possible way.Based on the original story by Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow tells the story of Tarry Town, a place where strange things happen and the townsfolk seem entranced by spirits. “It inspires people because it reminds them that there are still some American mysteries, some half-truths that may never be fully known-and that's the whole point,' she says. But there’s no evidence that the two ever met, according to the newspaper.Īmerica’s first ghost story, Bradley says, has endured because it accommodates the changing American imagination. Crane was a contemporary of Irving who enlisted in the Marines in 1809, serving 45 years. We are haunted by the past which stalks us so that we never forget it.”Īs for folklore mixing with history when it comes to the character of Ichabod Crane, The New York Times reports an actual Col. The horseman, like the past, still seeks answers, still seeks retribution, and can't rest. “This injustice demands that he continually search for a substitute. “The headless horseman supposedly seeks revenge-and a head-which he thinks was unfairly taken from him,” Potter says. The Headless Horseman pursuing Ichabod, illustrated by Frances Brundage.įranz Potter, a professor at National University who specializes in Gothic studies, says the headless horseman, as a supernatural entity, represents a past that never dies, but always haunts the living. READ MORE: Famous Ghosts in American History 'It's a melting pot of a story, and thus totally American.” He 'would have been introduced to local ghost stories and lore at an impressionable age,” Bradley says.“He cleverly weaves together factual locations-the Old Dutch Church and churchyard, ‘Major Andre's Tree,’ some actual family names, including van Tassel and Ichabod Crane-and a little bit of Revolutionary War history with pure imagination and fantasy,' Bradley says. He moved to the area in 1798 to flee a yellow fever outbreak in New York City, according to the New York Historical Society. Irving may have drawn inspiration for his story while a teenager in the Tarrytown region. After being rebuffed by Katrina at a party at the van Tassel farm where ghost stories are shared, Ichabod is chased by a headless horseman (who may or may not be his rival) who hurls a pumpkin at the man, throwing Ichabod from his horse. In it, lanky newcomer and schoolmaster Ichabod Crane courts Katrina van Tassel, a young heiress who is also being pursued by the Dutchman Brom Bones. Irving’s story takes place in the New York village of Sleepy Hollow, in Westchester County. READ MORE: The Dark Side of the Grimm Fairy TalesĪccording to the New York Historical Society, others believe Irving was inspired by “an actual Hessian soldier who was decapitated by a cannonball during the Battle of White Plains, around Halloween 1776.”

“Irving had just met and become friends with Scott in 1817 so it's very likely he was influenced by his new mentor's work,” she says, “The poem is about a wicked hunter who is doomed to be hunted forever by the devil and the ‘dogs of hell’ as punishment for his crimes.” American author Washington Irving (1783-1859).

The legend of sleepy hollow