THE CONCORDANCE

headless

2 records across 2 traditions carry this current.

Europe & the North · 1

DullahanOmen · IrelandA headless harbinger in Irish folklore, often riding a black horse or driving a death-coach. Where he stops, a death is said to follow; gold may force him away in some tellings.

South Asia · 1

SkondhokataSpectre · Bangladesh · IndiaIn Bengali popular folklore, a skondhokata (also kondhokata) is a headless ghost—often of someone killed on the railway or by unjust beheading—who wanders searching for its missing head. A thin dossier compared with petni or shakchunni, but a stable member of Bengal’s named ghost family.