Legends play a significant role in the culture of every country. Historically, such stories were used to transmit certain moral values to the younger generation and served both for educational and entertaining purposes. Therefore, it is believed to be interesting to get familiar with some legends that still affect the imagination of some people.
The legend of La Llorona is regarded to have its origin from a Hispanic culture and has been popular since the era of conquistadores (Weiser, 2017). La Llorona is translated from Spanish as “Weeping Woman.” It is noted that no one is able to say where and when this story took place. Some people doubt whether it had happened at all. The ghost of La Llorona was stated to be seen in various places in southwest America by many people. Therefore, it is possible to say that it was just their imagination influenced by the horrifying stories about a restless spirit killing little children at the banks of the river.
There are many different versions of this legend. Some people say that La Llorona was a beautiful woman who liked to spend time with men in the evenings. She had two children, and one day they were found dead at the bank of the river. It was claimed that she had drowned them to have more free time for men. By the other version, La Llorona was the wife of a wealthy man who was not fair to her. Once when he ignored her once more, she killed her children out of jealousy. The different versions of this legend prove that it might serve as an educational horror story to share some moral aspects and prevent children from walking at riverbanks at night. All the versions emphasize that the weeping ghost of La Llorona kills little kids who try to come closer to her. Thus, it is obvious that this story is the product of the collective imagination of Spanish society.
References
Weiser, K. (2017). La Llorona – Weeping Woman of the Southwest. Web.