'''"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"''' is a short story by [[Washington Irving]] contained in his collection ''[[The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.]]'', written while he was living in [[Birmingham]], [[England]] and first published in [[1819]].
The story is set in the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town (the northern portion of which is now [[Sleepy Hollow, New York | Sleepy Hollow]], [[Westchester County, New York|Westchester County]], [[New York]], [[United States]]), near a sequestered glen called Sleepy Hollow, around the year [[1787]]. It tells the story of [[Ichabod Crane]], a priggish schoolmaster from [[Connecticut]] who is scared away from town by Abraham "Brom Bones" Van Brunt, his rival in love for the hand of eighteen-year-old [[Katrina Van Tassel]], daughter of Baltus Van Tassel and a fifth-generation [[Netherlands | Dutch]] immigrant herself. The legend featured in the story is that of the [[Headless Horseman]] or Galloping Hessian of the Hollow, the [[ghost]] of a [[Hesse | Hessian]] trooper who lost his head to a canon-ball during ''"some nameless battle''" of the [[American Revolutionary War]] and who stalks Sleepy Hollow in search of a replacement head.
The denouement of the fictional tale is set at the lower bridge in the real location of the Old Dutch Burying Ground in [[Sleepy Hollow, New York]] (formerly North Tarrytown) attached to [[Sleepy Hollow Cemetery]]. The characters of [[Ichabod Crane]] and [[Katrina Van Tassel]] were based on real people. The character of Katrina was based upon Eleanor and her name comes from Eleanor's aunt [[Catriena Ecker Van Tassel]].
Notable film adaptations include:
*''[[The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad]]'' directed by [[James Algar]], [[Clyde Geronimi]] and [[Jack Kinney]], first released on [[October 5]], [[1949]] by [[RKO Radio Pictures]]. It is an animated version of the story, accompanied by an animated version of [[Kenneth Grahame]]'s [[The Wind in the Willows]] and produced by [[Walt Disney Productions]]. It is somewhat darker than the original story and whether the visually impressive Horseman is a ghost or a disguise is left somewhat unclear.
*''[[Sleepy Hollow (movie)|Sleepy Hollow]]'' directed by [[Tim Burton]], first released on [[November 17]], [[1999]]. A movie adaptation which takes many liberties with the plot and characters. Burton cited the Disney film as an influence, but his version is considerably darker. Cast includes [[Johnny Depp]] as [[Icabod Crane]], [[Christina Ricci]] as [[Katrina Van Tassel]], [[Christopher Walken]] as the [[Headless Horseman]], and [[Michael Gambon]] as Baltus Van Tassel.
==External links==
*[http://www.bartleby.com/310/2/2.html The text of the original story]
*[http://us.imdb.com/Title?0041094 Internet Movie Database's profile of The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad]
*[http://us.imdb.com/Title?016261 Internet Movie Database's profile of Sleepy Hollow]
*[http://www.sleepyhollowcemetery.org Sleepy Hollow Cemetery]
[[Category:Short stories|Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The]]
[[fr:La légende de Sleepy Hollow]]
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