- Spanish:
- “The Weeping Woman”
La Llorona
-
Who is La Llorona in mythology?
La Llorona, also known as "The Weeping Woman," is a prominent figure in Mexican and Latin American folklore. According to legend, she was a woman named Maria who, driven by jealousy, rage, or despair over her husband's infidelity, drowned their two sons in a river and then herself.
Now a ghost, La Llorona is condemned to wander the earth, eternally searching for her lost children, her presence announced by loud, mournful wails. Her cries, "Mis hijos! Mis hijos! ¿Dónde están mis hijos?" ("My sons! My sons! Where are my sons?") are said to lure people to their deaths. Encounters with La Llorona are believed to bring misfortune or death, and her wails are said to sound more distant the closer she is to her victims. The tale of La Llorona is often told to children to warn them against wandering out at night.
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Where does the legend of La Llorona come from?
The legend of La Llorona is a prominent ghost story in Mexican and Latin American communities. According to the legend, La Llorona, once a woman named Maria, drowned her sons in a river out of jealousy, rage, or despair caused by her husband's infidelity or abandonment. Afterward, she drowned herself and is now condemned to wander the Earth as a ghost, searching for her lost children and wailing, "Mis hijos! Mis hijos! ¿Dónde están mis hijos?" ("My sons! My sons! Where are my sons?").
There are several origin stories for the folklore of La Llorona. Some say the tale originated in Mexico, while others argue it came from Spain through oral tradition. Some historians link La Llorona to the Aztec earth goddess Coatlicue, while another tradition identifies her as Malintzin, the enslaved Indigenous woman and interpreter for the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés.
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What is the story behind La Llorona's crying?
La Llorona is a mythological woman from Mexican and Latin American folklore whose cries are said to attract adults and children to their deaths.
According to legend, La Llorona was a woman named Maria who, out of jealousy, rage, or despair, drowned her sons in a river and then herself after realizing what she had done. Another version says her neglected sons drowned while she was out with other men. Now a ghost, La Llorona wanders the Earth, wailing, "Mis hijos! Mis hijos! ¿Dónde están mis hijos?" ("My sons! My sons! Where are my sons?") as she searches for her lost children. Encounters with La Llorona are to be avoided because those who hear her cries are destined for misfortune or death.
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How do different regions tell La Llorona's story?
The legend of La Llorona varies across regions, with common threads and unique details.
Many versions of the story are told to children across Latin America, often to dissuade them from staying out too late at night. In many variations of the tale, La Llorona, once a beautiful woman named Maria, is said to have lured her sons to a nearby river and drowned them before drowning herself after realizing what she had done. Some say that she appears to mothers and steals their children, mistaking the children for her own lost sons.
Some historians link La Llorona to the Aztec earth goddess Coatlicue, while others claim she is Malintzin, the enslaved Indigenous woman and interpreter of Hernán Cortés. Encounters with La Llorona are to be avoided at all costs, and her wails are said to sound more distant the closer she is to her victims.
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What lessons or warnings does the La Llorona legend give?
The legend of La Llorona serves as a cautionary tale, particularly for children, warning them against wandering out alone at night. It also cautions against misbehavior, as some versions suggest La Llorona appears when children act up. The story underscores the dangers of unchecked emotions like jealousy, rage, or despair, which, according to the myth, drove her to commit infanticide. Encounters with La Llorona are to be avoided, as they are said to bring misfortune or even death. The desperate and malevolent spirit acts without mercy, drowning children she finds or kidnaps when she realizes they are not her own sons.
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How has La Llorona influenced art, movies, or other stories?
La Llorona, a prominent figure in Mexican and Latin American folklore, has significantly influenced art, movies, and literature. The legend tells of a woman named Maria who, after losing her children, roams the earth as a weeping ghost.
La Llorona has been depicted in films such as La Llorona (1933), The Curse of the Crying Woman (1963), Mama (2013), The Curse of La Llorona (2019), and The Legend of La Llorona (2022). Rudolfo Anaya’s novel, The Legend of La Llorona (1984), presents one interpretation of the tale. The Guatemalan horror film La Llorona (2019) connects the folklore with the nation’s history of genocide and civil war.
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La Llorona, 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. The legend of La Llorona is a popular ghost story that is especially prominent on Día de Muertos and in Chicano and Latin American communities.
The legend and its variations
According to the legend, La Llorona was once a beautiful woman named Maria. In many variations of the tale, Maria’s husband was an unfaithful or abusive man who treated their two sons more affectionately than he did his wife. Other retellings say that her husband may have left her for a wealthier or lighter-skinned woman. Out of jealousy, rage, or despair, she is said to have lured her sons to a nearby river and drowned them before drowning herself after realizing what she had done. In another version, Maria’s neglected sons drowned accidentally while she was cavorting with gentlemen callers. Forever after, Maria’s ghost, now La Llorona, is forced to wander the Earth searching for her lost sons. She can be identified by her loud, wailing cries: “Mis hijos! Mis hijos! ¿Dónde están mis hijos?” (“My sons! My sons! Where are my sons?”)
La Llorona’s wails are often said to sound more distant the closer she is to her victims.
The folklore of La Llorona has several different origin stories. According to one account, her tale originated in Mexico; another argues that it traveled through oral tradition from Spain. Some historians identify La Llorona as directly linked to the Aztec earth goddess Coatlicue. Another tradition holds that she is Malintzin, or “La Malinche,” the enslaved Indigenous woman who was the primary interpreter and concubine of Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés. This version was told in Rudolfo Anaya’s novel The Legend of La Llorona (1984). Aside from these speculations, La Llorona endures as a myth that continues to strike fear in children of Latin American heritage.
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Warnings and encounters
Many versions of the story are told to children across Latin America, often to dissuade them from staying out too late at night. Some versions claim that La Llorona can be summoned in a séance-like environment. Others claim that she appears when children misbehave or when men find themselves lost and alone near a lake or river. In some versions, she appears to mothers and steals their children, mistaking the children for her own lost sons.
In all iterations of the story, encountering La Llorona is to be avoided at all costs. It is said that those who hear La Llorona’s cries are destined for misfortune or even death. A desperate and malevolent spirit, she is said to act unflinchingly and without mercy, often drowning the children she has found or kidnapped when she realizes they are not her sons. Some traditions hold that she will begin to seduce a lone man and then murder him as a form of revenge for her husband’s abuse or adultery, while others assert that she kills men, women, and children indiscriminately. Eerily, her wails are often said to sound more distant the closer she is to her victims.
There are many stories of encounters with La Llorona. In 1968 American folklorist Bess Lomax Hawes published an article, “La Llorona in Juvenile Hall,” which gives accounts of a “weeping woman” haunting a juvenile detention facility in California. Some accounts describe La Llorona as having long hair and wearing a hooded cape or a veil. Others describe her as being young and pretty, being dressed entirely in black or white, or having the bones of her dead children embedded in her backbone.
In film
La Llorona has been depicted in many films, dating back to the Mexican films La Llorona (1933) and La maldición de la Llorona (1963; The Curse of the Crying Woman). More recently, the legend has been told in the films Mama (2013), The Curse of La Llorona (2019), and The Legend of La Llorona (2022), a horror film costarring Danny Trejo. The Guatemalan horror film La Llorona (2019) intertwines the folklore of La Llorona with the nation’s history of genocide and civil war.
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