Why does the headless horseman

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.

They had been frightening people all over Europe since the Middle Ages. Traditional folklore holds that the Horseman was a Hessian trooper who was killed during the Battle of White Plains in He was decapitated by an American cannonball, [5] and the shattered remains of his head were left on the battlefield while his comrades hastily carried his body away.

Eventually they buried him in the cemetery of the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow, from which he rises as a malevolent ghost, furiously seeking his lost head. 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 schoolmaster vanishes. Irving may have drawn inspiration for his story while a teenager in the Tarrytown region. Franz 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.

The horseman, like the past, still seeks answers, still seeks retribution, and can't rest. We are haunted by the past which stalks us so that we never forget it. Ichabod B.