dullahan

plural dullahans · alternative Dullahan · alternative dullaghan · alternative Dullaghan

1. IrishfantasyA black-clad (usually male) horserider in Irish folklore which carries its severed head like a lantern and may be repelled by gold; when it stops riding (or calls out someone's name), someone will die. (Also called the Gan Ceann, Irish for "[one] without a head".)

   Because she is a dullahan, her head is not connected to her body—it's held in place by her gear.

   2017, Kugane Maruyama, Satoshi Oshio, Overlord, volume 4, Yen Press LLC, →ISBN

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   The dullahans always came in a mist. But Devin wasn't afraid of dullahans. If he saw one, he would club it over the head. But then Devin remembered that dullahans didn't have heads. He grasped his stick a little tighter in his hand, […]

   1990, Elona Malterre, The Last Wolf of Ireland, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 3

   “A dullahan,” both Phelan and Coriel whispered. Coriel looked her square in the eye, “You did remember the gold, right?” ML blushed, “No, I didn't. I was so scared I just started running.” “Then how did you escape?” “My pocket tore on a bush. […] “You're lucky you're not dead anyway. The dullahan could have stopped or spoken your name, or both.”

   2008, Jessica Borchardt, A Fairy Yarn, →ISBN, page 53

   There is no way to bar the road against a dullahan. All locks and gates open on their own when it approaches. Dullahans do not appreciate being watched while on their errands, throwing a basin of blood on those who dare to do so […]

   2014, Tony Locke, Mayo Folk Tales, The History Press, →ISBN

   But the values of a fairy manifested into physical form in this city—a dullahan.” Celty Sturluson was not a human being. Celty was a type of fairy known as a dullahan that appeared to those close to death, signaling their impending demise.

   2015, Ryohgo Narita, Durarara, volume 1, Yen Press LLC, →ISBN

plural Dullahans

1. Alternative letter-case form of dullahan.

   “With the Bodach defeated, no one thought to protect Gwen. A Dullahan discovered her and used the necklace to control her. Through her, it learned everything about Arthur's defenses.”

   2012, Armen Pogharian, Misaligned: The Celtic Connection, SynergEbooks, →ISBN, page 111

   1 more example

   It was never fully clear to Irving whether the Dullahan and the Gan Ceann were the same entity [...]. Most feared of all the Unseelie, the Dullahan is a bringer of dismay and death. The Dullahan is a headless rider, clad in a flowing black cape and usually mounted upon a black horse that spews flames from its nostrils […] The Dullahan carries its rotting head aloft in one hand like a lantern, the better to see immense distances, while it holds a whip made from a human spinal cord in the other.

   2016, Mark Latham, Hunting the Headless Horseman, The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc, →ISBN, page 47

1. A surname from Irish.