Folklore Wednesday: Baba Yaga

Baba Yaga by I. Bibilin (1900)

One of the first tales – that I can remember – which really scared me was a tale of Baba Yaga in a children’s story compendium which contained stories from around the world. This specific tale ended with Baba Yaga’s eyes smeared with tar. The illustration with the story was really the thing that scared me – she was drawn as having a forked tongue and had chicken feet as a necklace around her neck. It was only later, when I really got into folklore and mythology, that I learned more about the figure of Baba Yaga.

A witch from Eastern European lore, she lives in a house that stands on chicken legs and have windows which shut like eyes. “Surrounding the hut is a fence made of human bones and decorated with skulls.” (2008:234) The Mythical Creatures Bible describes her as a Hag and adds “…[l]ike other Hags, she is a wizened old woman with a long hooked nose”  (2008:234). In the same volume she is described as travelling through the air in a mortar which she rows with its pestle and clears her tracks with a birch broom. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology (2007:183), however, describes her means of travel as an iron kettle with which she flies through the air.

One thing on which all sources seem to agree is that she is “a cannibalistic witch who lures human victims, especially children, to her hut and devours them.” (2008:234). The Mythical Creatures Bible also notes “scholars believe that Baba Yaga was originally a potent female nature spirit, a provider of healing, protection, and guidance” (2008:234).

There are many illustrations of Baba Yaga (not all of which are quite as scary as the one from the children’s book in which I first read about her!), but here I am only going to show a few. Or go and look on this board on Pinterest.

Baba Yaga by Rima Staines (2010) - Follow the linkfor her other wonderful artwork. 

For more information and stories about Baba Yaga, visit these pages:

Sacred Texts

Old Russia  

The Wikipedia article  

Sources:

Rosen, Brenda. 2008. The Mythical Creatures Bible. Sterling Publishing, New York.  

Cotterell, A. & R. Storm. 2007. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Mythology. Hermes House, London.