La Llorona (Latin American Spanish: [la ʝoˈɾona]; 'the Crying Woman, the Weeping Woman, the Wailer') is a vengeful ghost in Hispanic American folklore who is said to roam near bodies of water mourning her children whom she drowned in a jealous rage after discovering her husband was unfaithful to her.
La Llorona is a mythological woman in Mexican and Latin American oral tradition whose siren-like wails are said to lure adults and children to their untimely deaths.
La Llorona | Legend, Myth, Story, Folklore, History, & Facts | Britannica
The legend of La Llorona (pronounced “LAH yoh ROH nah”), Spanish for the Weeping Woman, has been a part of the Southwest’s Hispanic culture since the days of the conquistadores. The tall, thin spirit is said to be blessed with natural beauty and long flowing black hair.
La Llorona – Weeping Woman of the Southwest - Legends of America
Of all the Latin American folktales and legends, none are more prolific and well-known as that of La Llorona. Long before its latest movie incarnation, “The Curse of La Llorona”
La Llorona is often closely associated with children. In some stories, she is said to wail for her own lost or dead children; in many of these stories, she killed her own children when she was alive and is doomed for her actions to be a wandering ghost.
La Llorona, “The Weeping Woman,” is among the most enduring and haunting figures of Mexican and broader Latin American folklore. Her legend spans from pre-Hispanic Aztec traditions to colonial syncretism and contemporary storytelling.