The Legend of Sleepy Hollow as a Folk Tale

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" follows the structure of a characteristic folk tale. This short story, written by Washington Irving, contains stereotypical main characters, unbelievable events involving the supernatural, and local color. All these qualities combine to create a believable, or rather an unbelievable, folk tale.

The main character in this story is a Connecticut schoolmaster by the name of Ichabod Crane. "Ichabod Crane is picture as the typical Yankee" (Bowden 73). It was assumed that the usual New Englander was tall and rather clumsy, with a long hooked nose. Certainly the fact that Ichabod "was tall, but exceedingly lank, with ...a long snipe nose," fits this description perfectly. Also, most "Yankees," if they were not already wealthy, were aspiring to such. Ichabod Crane is hardly what one could call financially stable, subsisting on the small revenue he earns by teaching school and singing. So, when he falls in love with Katrina Van Tassel, it is only fitting that she is the daughter "of a substantial Dutch farmer." Ichabod's rival in winning the affections of Katrina is Brom Bones. He is the "caricature of the Southern backwoodsman" (73) and the "figure of the frontiersman" (Carson 1249). Both these personalities are typically characterized as handsome, brawny, though somewhat crude individuals. Such a person is depicted in "the hero of the country round, which rang with his feats of strength and hardihood. He was broad shouldered and double jointed, with short curly black hair, and a bluff, but not unpleasant countenance, having a mingled air of fun and arrogance." This "fun" is seen throughout the story during which Brom plays innumerable practical jokes on Ichabod, but also at the end when it is suspected that he may have something to do with the disappearance of Ichabod.

This "disappearance" comes after the all-important unbelievable occurrence concerning the Headless Horseman. The galloping Hessian of the Hollow, as he is also called, is "more formidable and ghastly...and, in proportion, less believable than Irving's other ghosts" (Kodes 249). The Hessian trooper "is the apparition of a figure on horseback without a head. It is said (his) head had been carried away by a cannon ball ... Authentic historians of those parts (Sleepy Hollow) ... allege that the body of the trooper having been buried in the church-yard, the ghost rides forth to the scene of the battle in nightly quest of his head." Having a special ghost to haunt a specific area is an important aspect of folkloric theme. This ghost plays a large role in the unreal ending of the story. Ichabod is coming home from a party at the Van Tassel's, during which he has not only been fed, but gorged, on horrific tales of the Headless Horseman's escapades (not to mention an extraordinary amount of food). Whether the proceeding catastrophe is caused by an overactive imagination, indigestion, Brom Bones, or a combination of the three, is not apparent. All that is known is that on the way home that night when "driving clouds occasionally hid them (the stars) from his sight," Ichabod Crane "met" the Headless Horseman. "He appeared to be a horseman of large dimensions, and mounted on a black horse of powerful frame ... Ichabod was horror-struck, on perceiving that he was headless ... observing that the head, which should have rested on his shoulders, was carried before him ...on the ...saddle." A chase ensues, ending when the apparition hurls his head at Ichabod, hitting him squarely on the forehead. However, when a search party locates the spot where this happened, all they find is the "hat of the unfortunate Ichabod, and close beside it as shattered pumpkin." So, what Ichabod mistook for the ghost's head was actually a pumpkin. It makes one wonder how much of the "chase" was true, or if it was even a real ghost. Whatever the case, though, it gives the locals another ghost story to tell.

The local color adds much to this story, especially a better understanding of how so many ghost stories originated there. As Kodes states in ShortStoryCriticism, "folk attitudes, homey descriptions, local sagen, and ghosts lengthen the tale while the entire story is a practical joke, true to the ribald humor of American folklore. Localities have special prejudices" (248). Sleepy Hollow "abounds with local tales, haunted spots, and twilight superstitions ... There is a little valley...which is one of the quietest places in the whole world." The impression given here is that Sleepy Hollow is a rather monotonous place where everyone knows everyone else for generations back. Because of the monotony, the locals try to spice things up by improvising eerie ghost tales. These stories are passed down from generation to generation and probably embellished upon as they are related to wide-eyed toddlers and unsuspecting foreigners. After all, "local tales and superstitions thrive best in these sheltered, long settled retreats," because they have become a sort of tradition.

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is an enjoyable story. Washington Irving employs all the methods and characteristics that form the structure of a successful folk tale. Numbering among the most important, he uses main characters that are stereotypes, unbelievable events involving the supernatural, and local color.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Bowden, Mary Weatherspoon. "The Sketchbook." Washington Irving. Boston, MA: Twayne Publishers, 1981. 72-74.

2. Carson, Warren J. "Washington Irving." Critical Survey of Short Fiction. Ed. Frank N. Magil. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 1993. 1,249.

3. Kodes, Sara Puryear. "Washington Irving's Use of Traditional Folklore." Short Story Criticism; vol. 2. Detroit, MI: Gale Publishing Co., 1991. 248-49.