![]() Despite scientific explanations for these flashes, “marsh lights” held their sinister air of mystery for hundreds of years, inspiring even more stories of how they were related to the dead, Bannatyne says. Like all good legends, the tale of Stingy Jack was born from some truth, as a medieval explanation for the “flame-like phosphorescence caused by gases from decaying plants in marshy areas,” as Merriam-Webster’s dictionary puts it. By the early 20th century, carved pumpkins had adopted the name we now use. ![]() It was only after 19th century Americans saw the connection between the legend and the spookily lit-up carved pumpkins they were creating that the two came to be seen as connected. In fact, European art from the 16th century used the pumpkin as a symbol for North American “untamed wilderness,” as she explains.īut still, the story of Jack and his lantern has nothing to do with a pumpkin. And the pumpkin itself was a rather sinister vegetable historically, Bannatyne writes. “Jack of the lantern,” according to that version of the history, became “Jack-o’-Lantern.”īased on Jack’s tale, there remains a bit of irony in his pumpkin’s symbolic ability for bringing people together. ![]() The devil leaves Jack with nothing other than a burning piece of coal, and Jack wanders aimlessly for the rest of eternity: just a ghost and his floating light. In many versions of the story, the frustrates the devil so much that upon his death, he is locked out from the gates of Hell. Often called “Stingy” Jack, he spends much of his life tricking the devil. The story, which has several different iterations, can be traced back to as long ago as 1551, Bannatyne says, and is quite sinister indeed. So, where did the name Jack come from? There are a few steps in this story, and the etymology of “jack-o’-lantern” is almost unrelated to its modern meaning and tradition.Īccording to one prominent theory, the “Jack” in question is the subject of an old folktale.
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