Washington Irving
Washington Irving was born on the 3rd of April, 1783. He was a native of what is now Manhatten, New York, New York. His family were very patriotic supporters of the new president of the newly-founded United States of America, leading to his first name being Washington.
Irving is known as the “father of the American short story.” He was the first American to make a living on writing and nothing else, a true pioneer of his day. His best-known work, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. contained perhaps one of the most influential short stories in literary history. Irving wrote under the pseudonym, Geoffrey Crayon, who then wrote the stories “Rip Van Winkle,” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” originally chronicled by a fictitious person called Dietrich Knickerbocker.
Irving has gone down in literary history as the first great American writer. His work was praised and criticised by other famous authors, which include Nathaniel Hawthorne, James Fenimore Cooper, Edgar Allan Poe, and Herman Melville. His works were primarily inspired by Sir Walter Scott, the famous British author, and Dutch or German folktales. Much of his writing is considered to be Dark Romantic, meaning that he puts an emphasis on imagination, nature, and emotion, but adds a darker side, best seen in this blog’s topic work.
Origins
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” was most likely inspired by true events, as well as Dutch wives’ tales. Stories of a headless horseman have circulated the literary world for far longer than Irving’s horrible Hessian.
One of the most fearsome tales comes from Celtic legend and the story of the Dullahan. Irving can be thanked for the writing of a much less terrifying horseman. The Dullahan is known in Celtic folklore to be a Grim-Reaper-like fellow, one whom everyone wishes to avoid. According to legend, the Dullahan rides a black steed with red eyes or occasionally rides a black coach pulled by six black chargers. Much like Irving’s Hessian, the Dullahan carries his skull in one hand, but unlike the Hessian, also a whip made from a human spine in the other hand. If the Dullahan utters one’s name, death will follow shortly after, and if the Dullahan is seen near a village, soon, the villagers will face death.
Whether Irving was truly inspired by this Celtic legend or not, the proven evidence of his headless horseman comes from the origins of American history itself. During the Revolutionary War, German soldiers called Hessians were more or less hired by the British army to fight for the British cause. The Battle of the White Plains, which occurred on the 28th of October, 1776 New York, lead to the withdrawal of American forces and the temporary defeat of General George Washington. (If you would like to know more about this battle, I recommend this website: https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/battle-of-white-plains/).
It has been told that one Hessian soldier met the rather unfortunate fate of having been beheaded. According to tales of the battle, the said soldier was given a very informal and quick burial by his fellow fighters, who, in their haste, failed to bury his head with his body. Naturally, stories such as these travel through tired and bored villages, primarily through wives’ tales. Another interesting point of inspiration is that an American soldier named Ichabod Crane fought in the War of 1812. For more about the real Crane, visit: https://www.theamericanprimer.com/index.php/categories/new-nation-1790-1828/141-the-real-ichabod-crane
Analysis
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” tells the tale of anti-hero Ichabod Crane. Irving sets his piece in the drowsy town of Sleepy Hollow, a part of Tarrytown, New York. The vocabulary used invokes a deep sense of a somnolent town, given frequently to imaginary tales of enchantment and witchcraft. The protagonist himself is quite obsessed one could say with witchcraft. Irving describes Ichabod as “a perfect master of Cotton Mather’s History of New England Witchcraft, in which, by the way, he most firmly and potently believed,” (11). This makes Ichabod quite the paradox. It is stated by the author that he was respected around the town as a schoolmaster, and was very educated and wise. But how could someone so intelligent be given over so easily by false narratives and legends about witchcraft and ghostly hauntings? This seems to be the point of Irving’s work. Even those of great intelligence can let their imaginations get the best of them.
The legend continues to tell of Ichabod’s great demise. He is first scared half to death by Brom Bones, the actual hero. Brom tells of his encounter with the famed Headless Horseman, “he affirmed that. . . he had been overtaken by this midnight trooper; that he had offered to race with him. . . Daredevil beat the goblin horse all hollow, but, just as they came to the church bridge, the Hessian bolted and vanished in a flash of fire,” (Irving, 38). This leaves Ichabod trembling in his seat.
Irving gives a wonderful description of Ichabod’s own encounter with the Headless Horseman. After the party in which Crane had attended and been told of Brom Bones’ story, he was on his own way through the hollow. The setting is creepy enough to spook any reader with the branches of black trees meeting in a canopy over the fearsome bridge. Ichabod winds up in a race with the Hessian, and has been said to have lost. In a frightful race through Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod could have lost his own head! No trace of Ichabod was seen for quite some time, until the villagers searched for the schoolmaster.
“In one part of the road leading to the church was found. . . the tracks of the horses’ hoofs deeply dented in the road, and evidently at furious speed, were traced to the bridge, beyond which, on the bank of a broad part of the brook, where the water ran deep and black, was found the hat of the unfortunate Ichabod, and close beside it a shattered pumpkin,” (Irving, 47).
This is quite a chilling tale when paid close attention to. It is no wonder that this story has prevailed for over 200 years. It is the perfect yarn for a Halloween night. Enjoy your spooky holiday!
Sources/ Works Cited
Irving, Washington. Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. Watermill Classic, 1980.
Washington Irving: https://s3.amazonaws.com/loa-production-23ffs35gui41a/writers/images/000/000/298/big/irving_washington_WD.jpg?1459284014
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