Welcome to the first edition of a new blog series called Tales of the West! In the next few articles, various books and pieces of literature written during the 19th century that explore the American West and the life there. It'll highlight the story behind these stories, the author and their lives, and how it's impacted the image of the Wild West that we think of today! We will be starting off with an interesting one that's considered one of the earliest classics in American fiction, The Legend of Sleepy Hallow by Washington Irving.
Washington Irving was a man from Manhatten who would go on to be not only a writer, but a magazine editor, diplomat, historian, and even was appointed as the Minister to Spain by President John Tyler in 1842. Particularly during his years of writing but more later on as well, Irving would use several pen names that he would publish his works under, most notably Diedrich Knickerbocker, Jonathan Oldstyle, and Geoffrey Crayon(which he published the writing of Sleepy Hallow). Throughout his years, he would travel abroad to complete his diplomatic work and to help out with his families' various firms, all the while continuing his writings. During this time, he wrote "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent" or usually referred to as "The Sketch Book" under a pseudonym, and contained a collection of prose pieces. This collection contained popular writings such as the tales “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle”.
Although some of the inspiration behind the characters and its origins are a bit debated, stories around a headless horseman kind of character is found in older writings and various countries' folklore, including German and Irish legends, who also carry their head and will sometimes ride a horse as well. The town that Irving describes in the story that Sleepy Hallow is near Westchester County, New York. It's noted that the story features both real locations and family names, but not all of the information is 100% accurate, with Irving using a bit of imagination to fill in the gaps and some fantasy to keep up the emotional factor of the ghost story.
For those who don't know, the main summary of the Legend of Sleepy Hallow follows a schoolteacher named Ichabod Crane who falls in love with a woman named Katrina Van Tassel when he comes to Sleepy Hallow. Although Katrina already has a potential suitor, Ichabod wants to marry her and to improve his social status, as Katrina is from a wealthier family. Ichabod goes to a celebration on his horse in the town one evening, and hears the story of a headless horseman who rides through the town carrying his head that he probably lost in a battle of the Revolutionary War. As he leaves the festival, Ichabod finds himself on a strange road and is chased by the headless horseman. As he attempts to escape, the horseman throws his head at Ichabod, knocking him out, and goes missing. The only thing that they find near Ichabod's horse the next day was his hat and a smashed pumpkin.
Although it seems like something straight out of a fantasy age, The Legend of Sleepy Hallow was published in 1820 and helped shape the specific kind of storytelling that would become popular throughout the 19th century. While it isn't the traditional Wild West story you would think of, the image of the Headless Horseman still remains one of the most recognisable figures in American folklore, and shows how stories from this era have continued to shape the way we can imagine life in early America and the western frontier as a whole.
Washington Irving was a man from Manhatten who would go on to be not only a writer, but a magazine editor, diplomat, historian, and even was appointed as the Minister to Spain by President John Tyler in 1842. Particularly during his years of writing but more later on as well, Irving would use several pen names that he would publish his works under, most notably Diedrich Knickerbocker, Jonathan Oldstyle, and Geoffrey Crayon(which he published the writing of Sleepy Hallow). Throughout his years, he would travel abroad to complete his diplomatic work and to help out with his families' various firms, all the while continuing his writings. During this time, he wrote "The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent" or usually referred to as "The Sketch Book" under a pseudonym, and contained a collection of prose pieces. This collection contained popular writings such as the tales “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Rip Van Winkle”.
Although some of the inspiration behind the characters and its origins are a bit debated, stories around a headless horseman kind of character is found in older writings and various countries' folklore, including German and Irish legends, who also carry their head and will sometimes ride a horse as well. The town that Irving describes in the story that Sleepy Hallow is near Westchester County, New York. It's noted that the story features both real locations and family names, but not all of the information is 100% accurate, with Irving using a bit of imagination to fill in the gaps and some fantasy to keep up the emotional factor of the ghost story.
For those who don't know, the main summary of the Legend of Sleepy Hallow follows a schoolteacher named Ichabod Crane who falls in love with a woman named Katrina Van Tassel when he comes to Sleepy Hallow. Although Katrina already has a potential suitor, Ichabod wants to marry her and to improve his social status, as Katrina is from a wealthier family. Ichabod goes to a celebration on his horse in the town one evening, and hears the story of a headless horseman who rides through the town carrying his head that he probably lost in a battle of the Revolutionary War. As he leaves the festival, Ichabod finds himself on a strange road and is chased by the headless horseman. As he attempts to escape, the horseman throws his head at Ichabod, knocking him out, and goes missing. The only thing that they find near Ichabod's horse the next day was his hat and a smashed pumpkin.
Although it seems like something straight out of a fantasy age, The Legend of Sleepy Hallow was published in 1820 and helped shape the specific kind of storytelling that would become popular throughout the 19th century. While it isn't the traditional Wild West story you would think of, the image of the Headless Horseman still remains one of the most recognisable figures in American folklore, and shows how stories from this era have continued to shape the way we can imagine life in early America and the western frontier as a whole.
