While many other writers of the time romanced about nature, Irving used characteristics of nature to portray the magic and mystery of the region. One example of this, is the description of Major Andre's Tree in the story. Irving writes, "Its limbs were gnarled, and fantastic, large enough to form trunks for ordinary trees, twisting down almost to the earth, and rising again into the air."(Irving) going on, "The common people regarded it with a mixture of respect and superstition, partly out of sympathy for the fate of its ill famed namesake, and partly from the tales of strange sights and doleful laminations told concerning it."(Irving). The description gives nature a mysterious and haunted value rather than beauty, used to make the reader feel scared for the character. Not only did Irving use familiar settings to write his stories, he also found that German folklore combined with American history made for a good story.
While living in Europe, Irving wrote many stories that combined a sense of European legend with a purely American form. His use of European legend demonstrates the strong influence of the old world on his work. Irving got the idea for one of his most famous short stories, "Rip Van Winkle" from a German folklore about a boy who falls asleep for fifty-seven years while looking for his sheep. "Rip Van Winkle" is about a lazy man, Rip Van Winkle, that goes into the Catskill mountains to hunt. Rip meets a small man who takes him far into the mountains where he drinks some liquor. Rip falls into a deep sleep and awakens twenty years later thinking he had slept one night. When Rip goes home, he finds out that he has missed the entire American revolution. This story is very typical of Washington Irving because it combines the mystery of nature with a piece of American history. It also provides romantic humor and irony to the reader. Some of Irving's fellow writers felt that he was sometimes too romantic.
