by Kathy Rusniak

Created on: February 20, 2009

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is the familiar and well loved story of Ichabod Crane, the awkward and aloof 19th century schoolteacher who finds himself face to face with his fears alone in the countryside late one evening. Many contemporary film and print adaptations have been made for both children and adults. The popularity of the tale is no wonder as it has all the elements of a real life drama with action, adventure and romance, as well as the intuitively placed juxtaposition of brain versus brawn and an individual versus himself that all types of readers can relate to in part or in whole.

The story opens with a description of a town and the surrounding countryside located just off the Hudson
in New York. Washington Irving uses his personal knowledge of upstate New York and also characteristics of his own Dutch heritage to set the scene of a quiet little place where daily life moves at a slow pace and the inhabitants persist in occupation of the area for generations so that myth and superstition have time to grow and become palpable entities in the region. A certain large old tree becomes a landmark as the sight of capture of an old war hero.
A churchyard becomes the meeting grounds for a horseman who, when not chasing after innocent passersby in the later hours of the evening, perhaps has a moment to contemplate his head which he carries in his hands rather than in the more traditional location. Tales abound and are a way of marking the passage of time in the Sleepy Hollow region.

The main character is the schoolteacher, Ichabod Crane, who takes himself and the local ghost stories a little too seriously, but never comes to much trouble over this fact. He teaches and disciplines his pupils, tutors in vocals, and lives a normal existence. Until he suddenly and unexpected falls for one of his singing students, that is. Katrina Van Tassel is not only young and pretty, but her father is very wealthy.

It is no surprise that Ichabod's crush on the local farmer's daughter causes much anxiety for him and also for a very popular and athletic young man from the area, Brom Bones, that had been trying his own luck with the girl. But still, you wouldn't think that a youthful and robust suitor would have any worries from an older, lanky and self-absorbed gentleman in the area of romance.
Then again, you can not predict what a girl will think or do in any situation, and that is the case when Katrina dubiously gives her full attention to big-eared, big-nosed Ichabod.

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