In the folklore of North and East Africa and West Asia, werehyenas are variously known as “bultungin”, “bouda” and “kaftar.” Like the European werewolf, werehyenas are usually humans who take on the shape of a hyena, though they are also sometimes said to be hyenas who take on human shape. In Ethiopia, blacksmiths are said to have the power to change into hyenas and rob graves. Similar folklore is also found in Morocco and Tanzania. In West Sudan, werehyenas’ favorite victims are young lovers, are usually blacksmiths, healers, or woodcutters and betray their non-human side with their hairy bodies, glowing eyes, and nasal voices.In Central and South America, La Llorona is a wandering ghost who lives in lakes and rivers and wanders the night searching for her lost children. There are many variations in the legend, but almost all of them assert that La Llorona drowned her children herself and has been condemned to wander the earth in search of them, wailing “Ay, mis hijos!”Her motive for drowning her children varies. Sometimes, she was abandoned by their children’s father and drowned them to punish him or because she feared they would starve to death without his money. Other times, she drowned them to be with another man who did not want any stepchildren. Most of the time, storytellers assert that La Llorona will never find her real children, so she’ll kidnap any child near as a replacement.
She has been identified with Coatlicue, the mother of the gods in the Aztec religion and La Malinche, a Nahua woman who served as Hernán Cortés’ interpreter and later, mistress.
