Facts in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Saardam is an antiquated name for the city of Zaandam, in the northern reaches of the Netherlands. Considering that the Van Tassel family—along with many of the families of the Hudson River valley—is of Dutch lineage, it makes sense that Katrina’s great-great-grandmother would have come from the old country.

A “Hessian” is someone from Hesse, a state in Germany. The “Galloping Hessian” is, according to Irving’s fictional legend, a Hessian mercenary brought to America to fight in Revolutionary War, only to—quite literally—lose his head.

The central folktale presented in Irving’s story is that of the “Galloping Hessian,” or the “Headless Horseman.” While Irving presents a fresh, uniquely American take on the folk legend, the figure of the Headless Horseman has appeared in various forms in European folklore since the Middle Ages.

To “give up the ghost,” a phrase which originates from 14th-century Middle English translations of the Bible, means to die. The idea derives from medieval theology, according to which each individual is inhabited by the “ghost of life,” a spirit which, once released, leaves the body behind to die.

The “witching hour” is a phrase derived from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, wherein the titular prince remarks, “‘Tis now the very witching time of night,/When churchyards yawn, and hell itself breathes out/Contagion to this world.” The witching hour has come to refer to the dead of night, when the endarkened conditions of the environment bring on a state of fearfulness and dread in human travellers. Some of the most important moments in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” take place at the witching hour, a phenomenon to which Ichabod Crane is particularly vulnerable.

Since Irving’s fictional narrator, Geoffrey Crayon, is relating the events of another fictional narrator, Diedrich Knickerbocker, who is Dutch, it is fitting that he refers to 17th-century English explorer Henry Hudson as Hendrick Hudson, the name by which the Dutch knew him. At the behest of the Dutch East India Company, he explored large swaths of the northeastern United States and parts of present-day Canada in search of a passage to Asia. The Hudson River was named after him, and his explorations furthered the claim of Dutch settlers who arrived to the area.

Many Dutch immigrants were Christian, usually of the Protestant denomination. The Sabbath—a holy day of the week dedicated to religious worship and rest—falls on Sundays.

Situated along the Hudson River, “Tarry Town” (now known as Tarrytown) was first established by Dutch immigrants and traders in 1645. Originally, the Dutch called it Terwe Town (“Wheat Town”) but corrupted pronunciation led to its current name. Now, its current population is about 11,000.

Prayers to the Christian St. Nicholas are thought to offer protection to sailors, especially those who are making difficult voyages. As a widened section of river, the Tappan Zee is especially unpredictable and dangerous.

From the Dutch word zee meaning sea and after a local Native American tribe (the Tappan), the “Tappan Zee” refers to a point of widening of the Hudson River in southern New York. Tarrytown is situated near the modern-day Tappan Zee bridge.

St. Vitus is the patron saint of dancers and entertainers, due to a Germanic tradition of dancing before his statue on his feast day.