You’re probably familiar with the legend of Sleepy Hollow and the tale of Ichabod Crane. But Headless Horsemen are mythical figures that have appeared in legends since ancient times. Let’s talk about several historical iterations of this myth and the modern pop culture that those tales inspired.
Listen to episode 53 of the Lunatics Radio Hour podcast for more headless horsemen history.
Irish Folklore
The Dullahan was believed to be a dark spirit from Irish folklore that brought death and decay to the Irish countryside. It was believed to dress in black and ride a black horse as it looks for souls to claim. A Dullahan was known to carry its own head under its arm. The decapitated heads of Dullahan are haunting in their own way. Besides being totally removed from the body, they were known to have a sinister grin and eyes that darted back and forth, constantly surveying all of it’s surroundings.
The eyes are also illuminated, so you can always see them coming, even in the dark. But there was a reason for the detached heads of The Dullahan. It allowed them to lift their heads high up and use their notoriously sharp vision to see much farther than they’d be able to if their heads were still attached to their necks. There was also believed to be a special significance to The Dullahan because the Irish people believed that the head was the home to the soul. In battles, victors would often remove the heads of fallen soldiers to keep as trophies. They thought these heads would act as a source of power and supernatural protection.
The Dullahan was known to have a horse whip that was composed of human spines. It was believed that when he stops riding, he calls out a name and that person dies immediately. In later versions a Dullahan is seen riding a coach, known as a silent coach or a death coach.
The Dullahan can appear as feminine or masculine. Versions of this myth say that wearing gold or wielding gold may be the only thing that can help save you from their deadly call. If you are unlucky enough to innocently cross paths with a Dullahan without being its target, they may spare you in exchange for your sight. According to legend, they may also throw blood in your face and hit you with their human spine whip. There is no way to hide from the Dullahan. They don’t need to see you to kill you, only say your name. The Dullahan acted as the grim reaper of Irish folklore. A truly terrifying entity.
Welsh & English Folklore
You may remember reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in English class. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a 14th Century Authoritarian poem. In the poem, one of the Knights of Arthur's Round Table is challenged to a duel by an unknown Green Knight. The proposal is that Sir Gawain will be able to strike the Green Knight one time and then a year and a day later, the Green Knight will be able to strike Sir Gawain once. Of course, Gawain accepts and he is able to behead the Green Knight with a single blow. But here’s the twist. The Green Knight picks up his head and places it back on his neck and leaves. Gawain goes on a journey to find the Green Knight. After he locates him, the Green Knight explains that he was transformed by King Arthur’s sister, Morgan le Fey. He also reveals that this was all a plot to expose how chivalrous Arthur’s Knights are.
Scottish Folklore
There is less information available around the Scottish headless horseman of legend, but we know enough to include here. He is known as a man named Ewan, who was believed to have aspirations to be the leader of his clan. However during a battle on the isle of Mall, Ewan and his horse were decapitated. Legend has it that Ewan and his headless horse still haunt the area. Looking for their lost heads.
American Folklore
In American Folklore the headless horseman was popularized by Washington Irving's Story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Irving drew on real life inspiration for this tale. If we look back at the battle for White Plains during the revolutionary war, we see the impetus of this legend. This battle took place on October 28th 1776, just a few days before Halloween.
Legend has it that there was a Hessian horseman who fought in this battle. Hessian soldiers were German auxiliary fighters that served for the British during the revolutionary war. In the battle for White Plains one Hessian trooper lost his head to a cannonball. His body was buried in the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow but his head had been blasted into so many pieces on the battlefield that it wasn’t able to be collected. It was believed that the spirit of the soldier would rise from his grave, trying to find his head. Because this happened so closely to Halloween, sometimes the headless horseman is portrayed holding a pumpkin for a head. Because he could grab one as a proxy while on the hunt for his own.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Washington Irving's story was first published in 1820, along with its companion story Rip Van Winkle. It’s actually a short story that lives in a book of essays and stories by the author, rather than a full length piece on its own. This is a great example of Gothic Fiction and is one of the most enduring Gothic stories of it’s kind. You can visit, as I did, Sleepy Hollow cemetery in Sleepy Hollow, New York and see the grave of Washington Irving, along with some other creepy sites.
The story is set in 1790, in the Upstate New York town of Sleepy Hollow. A secluded glen within Terrytown. In the story Ichabad Crane is competing with other suitors for a marriage to 18-year-old Katrina Van Tassel.
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