As Halloween decorations fill the shops, one expects to be surrounded by the grinning pumpkins known as jack-o'-lanterns... but have you ever wondered why? Let's take a look at...
- A History of Heads
- The Turnip Lantern
- Jack-o'-Lantern and Hoberdy's Lantern
- Stringy Jack and Big Sixteen
- The Pumpkin Lantern
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| Jack-o'-lanterns are part of Halloween now... (Steven Van Elk) |
A History of Heads
It may be hard to believe these days, but the archetypical Jack-O'-Lantern - that grimacing or grinning carved orange pumpkin - started life as a rather different object.
It's thought that the practice has roots in some truly ancient traditions - possibly including the practice of head taking. The Celts in particular were known for participating in this activity, even preserving the heads of foes (and possibly fallen allies) using tree resins. The theory went that the head was the seat of the soul, and that by keeping the head, you preserved the person!
Severed heads had totemic presence as well - for example, the head of the giant-king "Bendigeidfran" or "Bran the Blessed" is said to be buried where the Tower of London now stands... at the giant's request. Legend has it that the head continued to protect the British Isles long after Bran's death. Other Irish tales contain severed heads that speak, offer advice or even sing!
While severed heads had that macabre authenticity, carved stone heads were much longer lasting. It's thought that stone heads found in many Celtic Iron Age sites may have been substitutes for a real head.
The Turnip Lantern
In past times it was thought that protective totems could act like apotropaic magic, confusing or even warding away potentially dangerous spirits - especially when paired with bright fires. Of course, not everyone could get their hands on a severed head or a stone carving... but one still needed protection at times like Samhain, when the dead could drift among the living.
Enter the humble root vegetables - usually turnips, but also beets and potatoes. Much easier to obtain, these could be carved without needing a massive amount of training to create fairly grotesque results. It may not sound that disturbing, but take a look at this replica Irish "ghost turnip" and you'll see the overall effect is quite striking. I'd actually argue that it's a fair bit more threatening than the rotund pumpkins of today!
Interestingly, turnip lanterns don't seem to have been a purely Celtic tradition. The Finnish Kekri festival (itself oddly similar to Samhain) also features carved turnip lanterns, intended to ward off any visiting malicious dead.
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| Jack-o'-lanterns weren't originally pumpkins... (David Trinks) |
Jack-o'-Lantern and Hoberdy's Lantern
So how do we get from severed heads and carved vegetable lanterns to the jack-o'-lantern?
Well, first there's the "Jack" component. In England, Jack was a very common name and frequently used for any unknown male. A man with a lantern could therefore be a Jack with a lantern, Jack of the lantern or Jack o' lantern - which gave us jack-o'-lantern.
The term was also applied to ignis fatuus or will-o'-the-wisp - strange lights sometimes seen in boggy areas, each seeming to bob along as though they were a carried lantern. These lights already had a dark reputation, since they often seemed to lure travelers into treacherous ground!
Worcestershire had its own take on vegetable lanterns, specifically Hoberdy's Lantern. We know about these creations thanks to 18th century folklorist Jabez Allies, who wrote about them from personal experience.
Stringy Jack and Big Sixteen
There's an old folktale from Ireland attached to the jack-o'-lantern - the legend of Stingy Jack.
This version of the story portrays Jack as a blacksmith, prolific gambler, mischief maker and frequent drunkard. One day, Jack performed a good deed and was granted three wishes as a reward... and was advised to use a wish to ensure he'd get into heaven after death. Instead, Jack wished that anyone touching his hammer, sitting in his chair or picking an apple from his tree would be trapped until Jack chose to free them.
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| Pumpkins proved much easier to carve than tough turnips or solid spuds... (Marius Ciocirlan) |
The Pumpkin Lantern