Dullahan
Dullahan · The Headless Horseman — Ireland's Death-Bringing Envoy
A headless rider driving a black horse, holding its own severed head in one hand. A death-envoy of Irish lore: where it halts and calls a name, that person's life is severed. It wields a whip made of a human spine, and the gates along its path swing open on their own. Familiar too as the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow.
Origin
Derived from a death-reaping spirit of Irish Celtic lore. One reading holds it a vestige of human sacrifice once offered to the harvest god Crom Dubh; Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow spread it widely in the West.
Features
- A headless rider holding its own severed head
- A black horse and a whip made of a human spine
- Calling a name slays that person
- Gates along its path open by themselves
Stories
Appears as an unavoidable herald of death and an executor of fate. A symbolic being of Celtic-flavored horror narratives dealing with fixed death and the terror of the irresistible.
Weakness
It dreads gold extremely; throwing a gold object can drive it off or make it retreat. It harms none directly except its appointed target.
Related
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Skeleton Warrior
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Revenant
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Gremlin
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Mummy
Mummy · The Bandaged Dead — A Cursed Corpse Guarding the Tomb
Ghoul
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Wraith
Wraith · The Vengeful Specter — A Dark Spirit That Lost Its Form, Leaving Only Hatred
Zombie
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Nue
Nue · Chimera — Legendary Japanese Monster
Ghost
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Wight
Wight · The Barrow Dead — A Cursed Corpse Guarding the Tomb's Treasure