The Origins of The Headless Horseman - (Exploring the Stories Behind the Legend)

Today we take a look at the Headless Horseman and the many possible origin stories of the legend from all around the world.
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#HeadlessHorseman #SleepyHollow

[@ThePa1riot]

I’ve always loved the Headless Horseman story because the Sleepy Hollow version of him is a rare enough example of genuine American folklore and myth. (Something that a country only a few hundred years old and founded well after the enlightenment, doesn’t have a vast wealth of.)

[@jonathanwells223]

“...With a hip, hip and a clippity clop. He’s out looking for a - top to chop. Now don’t try to figure out a plan, you can’t reason with a - headless man...”

[@michaeljauch1142]

Bing Crosby: "Man I'm getting outta here."

[@Red4Eyed2Jedi0]

There once was a hero named Ragnar The Red Who came riding into town from ole Rorikstead

[@LonelyPandora]

And the braggart did swagger and brandish his blade, As he told of bold battles and gold he had made.

[@thehackingburger3002]

Then quite did go Ragnar the Red When he met the shield maiden Matilda who said

[@opdude6907]

"Oh you talk and you lie, and drink all our mead" Now I think it's high time you lie down and bleed"

[@alexandersmith7061]

This comment thread is weird...

[@odmesker5771]

And the braggart named Ragnar was boastful no moooooree...

[@HRH-vc6jj]

Love anything related to the headless horseman, so interesting and scary, would listen to these kind of stories for hours on end. Thanks for posting!❤️

[@powdermik]

Google my friend he has a dvd and cd”s he is on KZbin as well Johnathan Kruk is his name

[@jerrycoffey6506]

Yes The Headless Horseman is one of my favorite all time ghost stories. Especially seeing that the most famous one in the little town of Sleepy Hollow that there's actually supposed to be at least some truth to.

[@hectorsoy]

the Headless Horseman has always been my favourite scary story, it just seems so real! As a child this tale would scary the daylights out of me. The legend of sleepy hollow would raise the hairs on my neck! I think it still does! Haha!

[@pigtrain1]

Totally agree!!

[@DRINKIWHISKY]

1:14 That horse has seen some shit

[@bradyryan5105]

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is one of my favorite stories

[@jacopoarmini7889]

in medieval Italy there was the legend of the "wild hunt", that has little to do with its norse version: a wild hunt is the spectral byproduct of an affair ended in tragedy, the unfaithful woman would forever be hunted by her lover on horseback and a pack of hunting dogs. The two would go on chasing each other until Judgement Day, the whole thing is a metaphor, as the woman is chased by the man as punishment for her alluring him, while the man would never stop riding his horse (which is very painful) as he could not restrain his impulses. They could only stop to tell the living not to betray their spouse and end up killing each other out of jealousy.

[@chriscalvin5083]

Looking forward to the Arthurian mythology

[@henryviera7825]

Bet

[@jacopoarmini7889]

I don't know why I like this entity, I think that is because despite his ruthless actions he retains the finesse and class of a knight. Plus his lack of a face gives him an impersonal aura, like an executioner, or a vigilante of sorts.

[@humannaturedj]

As a child i wanted to be The Headless Horseman for Halloween, but I never really knew why

[@thanatos1347]

Still has more facial expression than Kristen Stewart

[@molliethomas2585]

BUUURNNNN

[@edi9892]

You mean Celty from Durarara? That romance was hillarious.

[@karmasauce6288]

I almost choked. Awesome comment. LMAO!!

[@cyraursa1783]

😂😂😂😂😂😝😝😝

[@wcapewell3089]

Oooooohhhhhhh!!!!!!!

[@silverbackwrites]

In South Africa, I grew up with the Arthurian version, but often heard the Brothers Grimm version as well (begging God to let him stay on earth, becoming a protector of sorts). Its interesting to see how the Arthurian version sort of came along with all the British influences down here, as for the Grimm version, I think it made its way into our folklore through the Dutch settlers (who were actually a mix of Dutch, German, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Irish and a whole bunch of other things). Sometimes I even hear a mishmash of the legend - interesting to see cultural influences at work, especially when it comes to folklore and mythology.

[@aidandevine5228]

The Headless Horseman is my favorite Halloween monster.

[@bradyryan5105]

Not really a monster. Just a ghost 👻

[@starstruck6162]

Mine too.

[@bobbycollings6964]

I've heard many stories of Headless Horseman, but this is the vary first time I heard about them being good guys

[@falconemoto6943]

“Shattering the silence, with his otherworldly cries” such a great and terrifying line.

[@raykoshorek683]

The Headless Horseman is one of my favorite Dark Folk Lore characters. Don't you agree with me?

[@exoticles]

yea i agree

[@Dian-kb2hg]

Depends......

[@MISSDONCHAWISH]

Yes!

[@MRO1970]

I agree big time!

[@heidibevan1916]

I do find this legend an interesting one, fantastic vid by the way 🤣😂💜

[@adampayne2088]

I never thought there were so many other stories about the headless horseman. I thought there was only one, but this takes the story to a whole new level. Excellent job

[@Ayooo-bh9ph]

Part of the reason why I watch this video is the fact that your voice is so calm and relaxing lol😭😭😂 I could listen to you talk all day❤️❤️

[@makeupboss9812]

I love the Folklore surrounding this story. I have long been fascinated with it .

[@leetatum5306]

Outstanding video, I can't say enough about how great your channel is keep up the brilliant work.!!

[@nexus8796]

The town of "Sleepy Hollow" in New York was called "Tarrytown" and not named Sleepy Hollow until fairly recently. If anybody out there wanted to look it up and had trouble. I would go with "Tarrytown" as a search just to be sure.

[@a.l5320]

I live in sleepy hollow

[@Werezilla]

Curious how we have all these headless horseman stories, but no stories of a headless horse.

[@dear_totheheart]

I'm so thrilled you are exploring a variety of mythologies, I've always been fascinated by the headless horseman so I really enjoyed and appreciated your research and presentation of his tale!

[@arneidos]

In my country, there is a different version of the legend, since Costa Rica was a very catholic country in 1700's, instead of being a horseman, he is a priest that was decapitated by pirates in the cathedral of the city of Cartago, because of that profanity the cathedral was cursed to never be a holly place again and an earthquake turned it to ruins, in fact whenever it was rebuilt it fell down again due to an earthquake, hence, it remains as ruins up to the present day, about the priest, it is said that he is seem during the nigths of mist and full moon, looking for the souls of people who are in sin againts the 10 commandments or commited blasphemy.

[@erhadgracic]

Can you do all the horseman of apocalypse

[@heidibevan1916]

That would be an interesting vid indeed 😎🤙

[@isaacbrowning5871]

Do it.

[@karmawinchester7172]

*lucifer has joined the chat*

[@humannaturedj]

Behold!

[@chetsadaallen2953]

the four horsemen of the apocalypse

[@michaeldiaz9999]

I love your channel, man. I discovered it by accident and I immediately got hooked. I am a huge fan of old myths and folklore, and so is my sister, who I recommended this channel to as well. Do keep up the good work.

[@Annabel_Lee1809]

You deserve far more subs than what you have, keep up the fantastic work! I love listening to your videos while sketching :D

[@docbrown7916]

Always enjoy these !

[@eccentriconyt]

That is a very cool story! I remember I stumbled on this legend back in my childhood when I watched an episode of the classic Scooby Doo and it was immensly terrying because they said that his head was shattered by a cannonball (just like in the actual story, no censorship) and he kept searching for his head, the old man who was telling the story in the episode said that he was a relative of a soldier who was seen later on a picture on the wall running from the Headless Horseman. Almost too scary for a Scooby Doo episode in my opinion....

[@robertyoung1317]

Love love love the content brother!! Me and the kids love to sit down when your notifications pop up and learn more interesting facts about myths of the past.

[@brandyrose9997]

Thanks for putting all of these legends into one video. Well done as always. 👏💖

[@AishaVonFossen]

Funny that you say the real reason behind the Headless Horseman sometimes having his head be depicted as a pumpkin. Since I grew up with the Disney cartoon "The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad," and then years later as a teenager reading Irving's short story (now my favorite ghost story ever), I thought the pumpkin substitute for the Horseman in action was because Disney wanted to sanitize the Horseman's image for kids. LOL That and substituting the pumpkin made sense visually for the cartoon since in both the cartoon and the short story, what people found the next morning after Ichabod went missing was his hat next to a shattered pumpkin. Which is funny, because when Ichabod was chased by the Horseman in the dark, the pumpkin looked like a human head to Ichabod. Funny that the simple reason it's sometimes a pumpkin is because the day the Horseman allegedly died was just a few days away from Halloween anyway. XD

[@redlady120]

The last story was the first time I've heard of Hope that you'll expound on this topic more. Thank you for the upload

[@CJ_F0x]

The headless horseman wielding a kriegsmesser, awesome!

[@heavymetal_warrior]

I was first introduced to this character through world of warcraft. I decided to do some research and found this video. Excellent presentation, very helpful.

[@Avant402]

Great video! Always liked the headless horseman!! Didn’t know there were so many different version. One reason why I like videos like this.

[@taymmartin6427]

I love this channel!!

[@krystalgrant9877]

Great video as always! ❤️

[@dagon2643]

Great video as always and just wanted to say i absoluetly loved tour Dagon video it got me into reading H.P.Lovecraft and he is quickly becoming one of my favorites would love to see you do more readings of his works keep it up

[@thedarkforcenation2605]

Dude been waiting long time foe this

[@isaiahstafford9727]

The chinese deity xing Tian is a headless warrior too, though he doesn't ride a horse.

[@datenshisekai]

isnt there another chinese being too that DOES ride a horse and collects the souls of dead people who havent had a proper burial yet? if i recall correctly that being was a dangerous spirit kind of being riding a horse, not sure if it also was headless though ^^;

[@derektorres6260]

Thank you for this episode, sleepy hollow has been one of my favorite folktales.

[@carloslasso4370]

I am from Ecuador, and in my country, we too have a legend of a headless horseman, but this one is rather funny. At the beginning of the 20th century in the city of Riobamba, there was the legend of a headless horseman that roamed the city on Saturday’s nights. Everybody was truly afraid thinking he was some kind of demon of specter. One night a group of friend decided to do something about the horseman. They stayed up till late and placed a rope at each side of the street, and when they heard the sound of the horse approaching, they tensed it. The headless horseman fell from his horse and they removed the cape he had over his head. And the funny thing is that the headless horseman was just Dr. Pedrosa, the priest of San Luis, a nearby town. Every Saturday night he would get on his horse to go and be with his lover, a young attractive widow.

[@KTM_Trooper]

Nuckelevee vs headless horseman

[@diegos7337]

This stories always awsome! I am always wating to watch your next video!

[@wickedjay13]

There's actually an interesting twist on the Headless Horseman tale in Doylestown, Ohio. Apparently, besides being a very haunted, abandoned mining town, there's a legend of Old Scratch Himself ( The Devil ) riding thru the abandoned area on a headless horse...yes, a headless horse. I don't have too many details on the story myself, but apparently it has been documented on since the 1800s.

[@makeupboss3568]

I found this interesting and it really grabbed my attention. This is a time in American History, that I often wish I could go back and experience. It was my favorite time in our history to learn about.

[@mihrimahsultana1263]

Loved the video images were very astonishing and helped explained the story

[@woody72691]

And to think there's a roller coaster based around this legend.

[@declanm6887]

Could you do the Angel of Mons, a legend in 1914 in where the Ghost of Saint George and a company of angelic archers came and rescued Allied troops?

[@LawrenceVengeance]

Now this is a story I want to hear. 😊

[@TheWolfElder]

I don't know about it being a legend. Many troops saw the Angels of Mons. There were several accounts.

[@commanderwolf395]

Actually if you go to the simple history channel they actually covered that

[@commanderwolf395]

@@TheWolfElder Yea but I think it was just a legend for propaganda purposes seeing angels attacking German troops to help the allys for one battle I think that's a little hard to believe

[@btetschner]

Thank you for the video.

[@damotoneko1500]

This was very interesting and educational. I like it! Added points for not having a robot voice.

[@roypruysvdhoeven1855]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTERSTING STORIES ABOUT THE HEADLESS HORSEMEN..

[@sydneymorris9919]

Love your videos!

[@DMAN_GAMR]

I love the story of the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow for 2 reasons. 1. Its a really awesome story! 2. Many countries have very rich folklore, but America really doesn't. It's nice to see we have a really cool folkloric figure!

[@bradyryan5105]

Interestingly, the legend of sleepy hollow was actually America's 1st published ghost story

[@billd3356]

Your narration is perfect, as is the music, and thank you for pronouncing the German names correctly. Where do you find the illustrations for these? Well done sir!

[@-_-4463]

is it me or is this channel addicting and awesome

[@shihoudouhikaru5998]

I really love this stories and explanation s of some creatures and powerful entities i hope you post more of this vids and i will support and watch this videos

[@tarabonee8855]

Loved it! Also,I would love to see a video on dryads....what Ive read about them is fascinating

[@evilgarygames]

Love the videos

[@sopassuwops4108]

wow...this is what my grandmas stories when i was little.intresting and great. thx for posting this

[@Bughunt89]

One of my favorite mythological figures aside from werewolves and Thor

[@hotbreakers94569]

I remember this tale frightened me the most as a child

[@johnnychaos152]

Several years ago I lived in a town called Winfield in West Virginia. There was an old abandoned mansion house that was built in 1841 by the Bowyer family. One of the Bowyer sons served in the Union Army during the Civil War and was decapitated by a cannon ball at the battle of Chickamauga in Georgia. His body was returned home and buried in the family cemetery down the road from the house. Fast forward a few years and both the house and cemetery were abandoned. The house I lived in was located right smack between them and the old dirt road connecting them ran through the woods about 30 yards behind my house. Every single night about midnight we could plain as day hear a horse galloping along the old road. It was creepy as hell to listen to. Our dogs would freak out and everything. I went to investigate a couple of times but there was never any evidence of anyone being out there. Old timers claimed that it was the headless spectre of Captain Bowyer traveling back and forth between his home and his tomb and if I actually DID see him he would take my head as a replacement. You can laugh all you want but I fully believe in ghosts and never again went into those woods after dark the rest of the time I lived there. As of 2019 there was an unsuccessful attempt to restore the house and turn it into a bed and breakfast. The new owners have publicly acknowledged that something other worldly inside the house isn't cooperating with their efforts and that the phantom rider is still making his nightly journey to the cemetery.

[@cameronclemente7773]

Jason Williamson that would scare the crap out of me if heard that galloping

[@johnnychaos152]

@@cameronclemente7773 Oh it was absolutely dreadful. I'm a combat veteran and those nights at that house scared me more than every time I was shot at. A lot of people have given me crap about that story but I was actually there and I know what I heard.

[@nicholasmorsovillo2752]

Until I came across this video I didn't know there was a lot of different legends of the Headless Horseman I was only familiar with the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Ichabod Crane and his fateful encounter with the Horseman in the woods and the first time I ever heard of the story of the Headless Horseman was in the animated movie Ichabod and Mr. Toad.

[@buddy8225]

Big fan of Sleepy Hollow. Always looking for ideas and inspiration for my stories. Loved the video.😀

[@nievelatino9691]

I love history and this scared me and I learned new origins of the horseman

[@cowpoke3702]

I love your channel man , i do.

[@nadiabrown7195]

I love your videos that you do a lot of them are really intrigued me and fascinate me I was wondering of if you can do a video on celtic mythology's tuatha de danann

[@TheBlindDyslexic]

have always loved this story.

[@spudferdpowers7080]

Can you do more videos about Roman mythology specifically, like Romulus and Remus, Flora, and the Aeneid?

[@hg1651]

My favorite story and my favorite fairy tale.

[@johannapersaud3821]

I adore mythology and fiction this video is certainly a treat for mythology fans Happy Halloween 2019

[@greyworld6242]

Can you do a video on Morgan la Fey? Christofer Walken is still best headless horseman to me. Lol In the sleepy hollow movie and tv show isn’t the horsemen also depicted as a villain?

[@jakubgrzybek6181]

More like a hell's minion. A victim of devil's trickery.

[@mihrimahsultana1263]

I also finished your book I loved it

[@triviavesta6899]

The Adventures of Ichabod Crane and Mr Toad use to be Halloween staples of TV, during the 70s and 80s.

[@0570965]

Thank you.

[@elleryparsons5766]

Very interesting

[@BrofessorHEMann]

The Dullahan is an Irish legend you should add to this....He fits the last drawing you used in the video.

[@Midnight_BRAZIL]

There's the Headless Mule in Brazil's folklore. It is the ghost of a woman that has been cursed by God for her sins (if I recall correctly she fell in love with a priest) and condemned to turn into a fire-spewing headless mule, galloping through the countryside from Thursday's sundown to Friday's sunrise.

[@theaj7866]

I really love your videos! Looking forward to the athurian legends :) And also “Hans Jagenteufel“ could be translated to “Hans, the devils hunter“, “Hans, the hunting devil“ but also “Hans, who hunts the devil“ which I found to be quiet fitting :)

[@The-kr9rb]

the latter of those sounds a bit more heroic than the others

[@frostedflakes4879]

Just got my mythic legions figure and dam this video hits different

[@PWEIcommunication]

One of the most vivid and dark dreams I've had, is of the headless horseman. I'd never even contemplated or thought about it but in the dream, stark skies Indeed. Dull black sky, I was stood near the river I heard a galloping in the distance getting louder, it _caned_ past me. Oh my god! The hunting horn! I've heard that in another dream!

[@mathieuleader8601]

its amazing to see commonalities between myths worldwide

[@princesskaylafaulkner]

I don't think I've heard that story by the Brothers Grimm. I also can't believe I never linked the Green Knight to the Headless Horseman. I love how different cultures share similar tales in folklore.

[@Trollvolk]

The Indian story reminds me of the German pirate known as Klaus Stötebecker. He was caught and sentenced to death like all of his peers. But he made an offer, when he gets decapitated, he wanted to walk past his crew, standing in a line. And all of those he walks by should be given pardon. The judge agreed, thinking that he won't do a singe step after long his head. But when the axe kissed his neck and sepperated head from shoulders, his torso stood up and started to walk past his friends. He walked past ( there stories vary) between 10 and 100 of his men.. probably all of them were killed nontheless. His head was in a museum until it was stolen. Not long ago 2010 or so.

[@derangedxxo6352]

The Wonderful voice further kept piquing my interest.... Keep going, good luck! :-) :-) 😋

[@petah781]

people say that a guy riding a horse while trick or treating was decapitated by a string that he could not see and was setup by a killer.

[@chriscalvin5083]

Good video

[@soundwave6189]

Cool story...Ichaboa Crane was scared

[@wilsonmiranne214]

3 and a half years late, but I think it's interesting that none of the stories reflected what I'd expected to hear coming in. In Motionless In White's animated music video for Undead Ahead 2, it's this really cool loop of the headless horseman, and it infers that he was someone who'd lost a loved one (presumably his lover) and the devil had appeared with a deal. The man accepts and becomes the headless horseman, killing on the behalf while displaying his lover's soul lighting the inside of a lantern that he carries on his hip, looking on in helpless horror. And that story reminded me of a show that one of my long time friends had me watch called Over the Garden Wall, which is a series of children's shorts set in purgatory I think, featuring a woodsman who, after making a deal with a mysterious shadowed figure, grinds these specific trees into oil to keep his lantern lit because it contains his daughter's lost soul. Later on it is revealed that the trees are actually what becomes of the lost souls in this world, making the woodsman into a killer, and the similarities between that story and the animated headless horseman one made me curious enough to look it up. Still a good video though, with some good classic stories.

[@goodgames7514]

Nice👍

[@raykoshorek683]

Who Would Win - The Headless Horseman or Michael Myers and why? (3 Reasons why?) "The Vengeful Ghost of Sleepy Hollow" or "The Unkillable Boogeyman" (Dark Folk vs. Slasher-Verse)

[@chrisricketts8059]

Looking forward to a Morgan Le Fay video!

[@ki-pattao9030]

Looks the Horseman is just going straight a Head.

[@caseypilarczyk9312]

My favorite movie

[@imari246]

‘We will ride again… The Headless Horseman…’

[@Len24342]

even though there’s so many stories of him they still kind of and the same without a head that’s why it’s so interesting

[@rodneymorrison6037]

I saw him when I was coming home from NJ

[@teaspells9994]

I just came from there lol it was cool