The most famous Halloween legend

Hi guys, sorry I'm late. I'm not here to dwell on the motivations, but I'm allowing the reading of a book, according to the author belonging to the fantasy genre, to take up a lot of my time. It is full of plot holes and the story is quite simple, but it offers good company. The book in question is A Quest of Heroes, first volume of the saga The Sorcerer's ring. It has an intermediate rating on the various social networks of readers, ranging from three to four out of five stars. I think that my opinion is fully married with this rating.

https://www.chirpbooks.com/audiobooks/a-quest-of-heroes-book-1-in-the-sorcerer-s-ring-by-morgan-rice

Anyway, back to today's topic. As I previously announced, today I would like to say a few introductory words about Halloween. Among the various tales linked to this event, the story of Jack o' lantern is certainly the most famous Halloween legend.

An Irish blacksmith named Jack, a drunkard and cheapskate, met the Devil in a pub on Halloween night. He was about to fall into his hands when he managed to trick him into believing that he would sell his soul in exchange for one last drink. So the Devil turned into a sixpence coin to pay the innkeeper and Jack was quick enough to pocket it. Since he also had a silver cross, the Devil could no longer return to his original form. Jack, then, made a new pact with the Devil, which was that he would let him go as long as he did not return to claim his soul for at least 10 years. The Devil agreed. Ten years later, Jack and the Devil met again and Jack, again with a stratagem, managed to escape the power of the Prince of Darkness and make him promise that he would never seek him again. The Devil, who was in a difficult situation, had no choice but to accept. When Jack died, because of his dissolute life, he was not admitted to the Kingdom of Heaven and was forced to knock on the Gates of Hell, but the Devil, who had promised that he would not look for him, sent him back and threw a burning fire on him. Jack used it to find his way back and, so that he wouldn't die with the wind, he put him under a turnip that he was eating.

https://www.history.com/news/history-of-the-jack-o-lantern-irish-origins

Since then Jack has been wandering around with his lamp awaiting Judgment Day (hence the name JACK O' LANTERN, Jack and his Lantern) and is the symbol of the damned and wandering souls. But if the vegetable was a turnip, then why is the Halloween symbol a pumpkin? When the Irish, following the famine of 1845, left their country and went to America, they took this legend with them and, since turnips are not as widespread in America as they are in Ireland, they replaced them with the more common pumpkins. Since then, the pumpkin carved with the old blacksmith's face and the lamp inside, is perhaps the most famous symbol of Halloween.

https://www.target.com/p/18-34-light-up-orange-halloween-jack-o-39-lantern-hyde-38-eek-boutique-8482/-/A-78638632

It is precisely from this story that I will develop the next themed articles by answering some rather unusual questions.