But out of all the spooky stories ever imagined, why has this one loomed so large for two centuries and counting? During his ride home from a harvest party — at which he was jilted by the woman he wants to marry — the superstitious schoolmaster meets a cloaked rider carrying his head on his saddle. The ensuing chase culminates with the Headless Horseman throwing his noggin at Ichabod, who is never seen again.
The woman thinks nothing of it and continues her acorn collecting. The next day, in the woods, the woman is met by this same horseman — only this time, he's carrying his own head. The rider calls himself Hans Jagenteufel, asks if she took the acorns without permission, and tells the woman that when he was young, he drank excessively and took as he pleased.
That life of sin had condemned him to an afterlife as an evil spirit. This German version makes the Headless Horseman something of a cautionary tale.
The Headless Horseman is a warning to the living to avoid his wicked fate: Don't steal. As the legend goes, in Brunswick, a man named Hackelberg is so devoted to hunting that, as he dies, rather than go to Heaven, he begs God to keep him on Earth to hunt. Hackelberg then became the Wild Huntsman, roaming the woods with his fiery hounds on an eternal hunt. For Germans, the Wild Huntsman portended hunting accidents, and he even served as a vengeance figure. If he came upon them in the woods, the Wild Huntsman would seek out those who had wronged others so he could punish them.
Scottish legend has it that in the valley of Glen More which cuts across the Isle of Mull in the 16th century, there was tension in the Maclaine clan. As a Scottish writer at the Hazelnut Tree recounts, Iain Og, the clan chief, found himself in a dispute with his son Ewen after he denied him property.
In , the two planned a mass duel. However, the day before the duel, Ewen came upon a fairy washing blood out of clothes who predicted that if his servant failed to serve him butter at breakfast the following day, he would not survive the duel. Sure enough, butter failed to be on Ewen Maclaine's breakfast table. In the duel, one of Iain's followers beheaded Ewen. Ewen's horse, terrified, sprinted away with just Ewen's body strapped in the saddle. Ever since, the specter of a body riding on a black horse has haunted Glen Moore.
It's said that if a member of the Maclaine clan sees the headless horseman, it's foretelling an imminent death in their own family. You could say that a headless horseman roaming the calm clearings of your hometown isn't exactly an ideal family inheritance.
Not all crownless jockeys have menacing histories. In Indian folklore, the Headless Horseman is actually a heroic figure. These spirits represent those who had wrongful deaths and come back to protect the innocent. Battling either on or off their steeds, these well-meaning spirits are defenders. For those who encounter them and are vulnerable, they'll do no harm. But what if you actually wanted to get rid of this benevolent rider?
As Newsweek tells it, a green-cloaked, gigantic figure on a green horse arrives at Camelot on New Year's Day. This Green Knight challenges anyone in King Arthur's court to strike him with a blow, under the condition that in exactly a year, the Knight will return the strike. He beheads the Green Knight, but to his horror, the Green Knight simply picks up his own head and remounts his horse.
Modern versions of the story refer his rides to Halloween, around which time the battle took place. The Headless Horseman is traditionally depicted as a man upon horseback who is missing his head. Depending on the legend, the Horseman is either carrying his head, or is missing his head altogether, and is searching for it.
Myths and Folklore Wiki Explore. Top Content. Forum Blog posts. Explore Wikis Community Central. The revolution in understanding human neurology is also part of this messing around with the inside of our heads. It turns out that the headless are not just a gruesome Gothic throwback, but a symbol that speaks urgently to our time. If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter.
And if you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc. The horror of the headless horseman. Share using Email. By Roger Luckhurst 18th November From Sleepy Hollow to Game of Thrones, the fear of decapitation says much about our views on power, sexuality and the self, writes Roger Luckhurst.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow exists in that hazy space between history and folk-tale. Losing it Our dread and fascination with the headless does seem to have become much more explicit.
For Freud, decapitation was a displaced symbol for castration. Head games Of course, beheading has always symbolised the exercise of absolute power. The French state still used the guillotine as recently as
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