Dullahan

An epic depiction of the Headless Horseman

The Headless Horseman is a fictional spirit that haunted the town of Sleepy Hollow and cuts off others heads like they did to him. He is known to be unable to cross running water, which is the only thing that stops him from caching Ichabod Crane when the two meet.

In certain cases the Headless Horseman is considered by some to be a Dulahan. Dulahans are a type of Irish Fae. They usually appear as beautiful women wearing armor and carrying their heads. They ride across the land on an undead horse and are sometimes seen as a sign of an approaching death. If someone sees a Dulahan they are typically drenched in a bucket of blood.

In mythology there is no reference that Dulahans can't cross running water, unlike the Headless Horseman, which is a debating point on the subject. No one knows why that Horseman is unable to cross water if he is in fact a Dulahan. There is also speculation as to why the horseman does not carry his head if he is indeed a Dulahan. Many do argue the point that his head was stolen from him, and that would cause him to hunt out other heads as commonly seen in the story.

History

It was the Revolutionary War that the Headless Horseman was involved in. His head was taken by a cannon ball, and his body was buried in the Sleepy Hollow Church. According to legend, the Headless Horseman rises every night searching for his head, and if not, he would take someone else's. Ichabod Crane, Sleepy Hollow's school teacher, was first introduced to the legend when Brom Bones told everyone at Baltus Can Tassel's Halloween party about the Horseman. That night, when Ichabod traveled back to Sleepy Hollow, he has a terrifying encounter with the Headless Horseman, resulting in the Horseman throwing his pumpkin head at Ichabod. What happened to Ichabod? Some say he's still alive, while others believe the Headless Horseman took his head. However, Brom Bones was the one behind Ichabod's chase and the legend itself. Ichabod's where-abouts re still unknown.

Trivia

• In Disney's "Legend of Sleepy Hollow", it is unknown if Ichabod encountered the real Headless Horseman, or if it was just Brom in a costume.
• In the live action film "The Hollow", the Horseman wears his pumpkin head trough-out the film and has a type of growling sound
• Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow tells that the Horseman was a Hessian, who did fight in the Revolutionary war, but instead of having his head blown off by a cannon ball, his head was chopped off with his own sword, and was controlled by Katrina's step mother, who stole his head and would blame Baltus for the crime.
• In the Television series Sleepy Hollow the Headless Horseman is the first of four, symbolizing an upcoming apocalypse which was prophesized in the book of Revelations, the last book in the Bible. It is said that Ichabod Crane cut off his head similar to the movie by Tim Burton.