The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (AmazonClassics Edition) characters

Appears from the start

A lanky schoolmaster from Connecticut who teaches and boards among the Dutch farming families of Sleepy Hollow. Educated but highly superstitious, he delights in ghost stories and hopes to improve his circumstances by marrying Katrina Van Tassel.

Appears from the start

The only child of the prosperous farmer Baltus Van Tassel. Young, sociable, and expected to inherit a rich farm, she attracts several suitors. Ichabod's interest in her is inseparable from his visions of the comfortable life her family's property could provide.

Also known as Abraham Van Brunt

Appears from the start

A powerful, confident horseman known throughout the neighborhood for practical jokes and physical skill. He is Katrina's leading local suitor and responds to Ichabod's courtship with intimidation, mischief, and rivalry.

Appears from the start

Katrina's wealthy father and the hospitable owner of a thriving farm. His barns, livestock, fields, and abundant table embody the prosperity that Ichabod imagines gaining through marriage.

Appears from the start

A farmer with whom Ichabod is lodging at the time of the Van Tassels' gathering. He lends the schoolmaster an old, ill-tempered plow horse for the evening journey.

Appears from the start

Hans Van Ripper's gaunt, stubborn horse, lent to Ichabod for his visit to the Van Tassel farm. The animal's awkward movement and uncertain responses make the fearful night ride harder to control.

Appears from the start

The spectral rider said to be a Hessian soldier killed by a cannonball during the Revolutionary War. Local tradition holds that he rides at night in search of his lost head and vanishes near the church bridge and burial ground.