Headless Character

Headless for hire

Add a wondrous addition to your Function. These Headless men are walkabout Entertainment Interactive and intriguing.

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Interesting facts on Headless for hire

The Headless Horseman is an archetype of mythical figure that has appeared in folklore around Europe since the Middle Ages.^[1] The figures are traditionally depicted as riders upon horseback who are missing their heads. These myths have since inspired a number of stories and characters in popular culture, including “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”.

Depending on the legend, the Horseman is either carrying his head, or is missing his head altogether, and may be searching for it. Famous examples include the dullahan from Ireland, who is a demonic fairy usually depicted riding a horse and carrying his head under his arm, and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” a short story written in 1820 by American writer Washington Irving, which has been adapted into several other works of literature and film including the 1949 Disney animated film The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad and the 1999 Tim Burton film Sleepy Hollow.

The dullahan or dulachán (“dark man”) is a headless, demonic fairy, usually riding a horse and carrying his head under his arm.^[2] Some versions of the story claim the dullahan is the spirit of Crom Dubh, a Celtic god worshipped in Ireland until the arrival of Christian missionaries in the 6th century.^[3] He wields a whip made from a human corpse’s spine. When the dullahan stops riding, a death occurs. The dullahan calls out a name, at which point the named person immediately dies.^[3] In another version, he is the headless driver of a black carriage, the Cóiste Bodhar.^[4] A similar figure, the gan ceann (“without a head”), can be frightened away by wearing a gold object or putting one in his path.^[5]

The most prominent Scottish tale of the headless horseman concerns a man named Ewen decapitated in a clan battle at Glen Cainnir on the Isle of Mull. The battle denied him any chance to be a chieftain, and both he and his horse are headless in accounts of his haunting of the area.^[6] Among the Highland Scottish diaspora in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, seeing the image or hearing the sound of a horse or headless rider is traditionally regarded as an omen of an imminent death within the family.^[7]