La llorona is a tall, slender woman dressed in white, though it is impossible to make out her facial features. Popular accounts also describe her as a woman without feet; indeed, she appears to glide across the ground without touching it.
The myth of ‘la llorona’ holds that her eternal suffering stems from her search for a newborn child she murdered by throwing it into the river in order to conceal a sin. Along these same lines, it is part of her penance to punish young men who engage in forbidden love affairs: she mounts their horses and can kill them in a deadly, icy embrace.
She is called ‘la llorona’ because her wailing is so relentless that it even drives dogs mad, as she wanders through the night (especially on nights of the full moon).
The majority of accounts regard her as a sign of ill omen, an indicator of bad luck: she may draw near to make people fall ill, to worsen the condition of the sick, or to bring misfortune upon loved ones.
In other accounts, ‘la llorona’ appears as a harmless being in need of comfort and help, arousing pity in those who, when they approach to console her, find that she steals all their belongings.
See information on Argentine Legends of Werewolves, Devils and Other Frights Leyendas Argentinas de Lobisones, Diablos y Otros Espantos