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Revision as of 03:22, 17 July 2007 editAgoodall (talk \| contribs)99 edits Added reference to the Godlike game's Baba Yaga character in the roleplaying section.← Previous edit		Latest revision as of 03:40, 27 December 2024 edit undoAltenmann (talk \| contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers218,223 edits →Related figures and analogues
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			{{Short description\|Slavic mythological figure}}
	]]]
			{{About\|the entity in Slavic folklore\|adaptations and other uses}}
			{{Redirect\|Babaroga\|other uses\|Babaroga (disambiguation)}}
			{{Use dmy dates\|date=September 2023}}
			]
			] letter ], in ]' ABC-Book]]

			'''Baba Yaga''' is an enigmatic or ambiguous<!--Johns 2004, cited below--> character from ] (or one of a trio of sisters of the same name) who has two opposite roles. In some motifs she is described as a repulsive or ferocious-looking old woman who fries and eats children, while in others she is a nice old woman who helps out the hero.<ref name=ef>{{cite Efron\|Баба-яга}}</ref> She is often associated with forest wildlife. Her distinctive traits are flying around in a wooden ], wielding a pestle, and dwelling deep in the forest in a ] standing on chicken legs.
	'''Baba Yaga''' ({{lang-ru\|Ба́ба-Яга́}}), is, in ], the wild old woman; the ]; and mistress of ]. She is also seen as a forest spirit, leading hosts of spirits.

	==Etymology==		== Etymology ==
	The name differs within the various ]. "Baba Yaga" is spelled "Baba Jaga" in Polish and as "Ježibaba" in ], and ]. In ], the words are reversed, producing ''Jaga Baba''. The ] is ''Бáба-Ягá''; ] uses ''Баба Яга'' and ], ''Баба Яґа''; all of the last three are transliterated as ''Baba Yaga''.

			Variations of the name ''Baba Yaga'' are found in many ]. In ], ], ] and ], ''baba'' means 'grandmother' or 'old woman'. In contemporary Polish and Russian, '']'' / '']'' is also a ] synonym for 'woman', in particular one that is old, dirty or foolish. As with other kinship terms in Slavic languages, ''baba'' may be used in other ways, potentially as a result of ]; it may be applied to various animals, natural phenomena, and objects, such as types of mushrooms, cake or pears. The element may appear as a means of glossing the second element, ''iaga'', with a familiar component or may have also been applied as a means of distinguishing Baba Yaga from a male counterpart.{{sfn\|Johns\|2004\|p=9}}
	In ] languages and traditions, there is a similar old witch: ''Baba Roga'' (] and ]), cyrillic equivalent ''Баба Рога'' (] and ]). The word ''Roga'' implies that she has horns.

			''Yaga'' is more etymologically problematic and there exists no clear consensus among scholars about its meaning. In the 19th century, ] proposed the derivation of ] *''ož'' and ] ''ahi'' ('serpent'). This etymology has been explored by 20th-century scholars. Related terms appear in Serbian and Croatian ''jeza'' ('horror', 'shudder', 'chill'), ] ''jeza'' ('anger'), ] ''jězě'' ('witch', 'legendary evil female being'), modern Czech '']'' ('wicked wood nymph', ']'), and Polish ''jędza'' ('witch', 'evil woman', 'fury'). The term appears in ] as ''jęza/jędza'' ('disease'). In other ] the element ''iaga'' has been linked to ] ''engti'' ('to abuse (continuously)', 'to belittle', 'to exploit'), ] ''inca'' ('doubt', 'worry", 'pain'), and ] ''ekki'' ('pain', 'worry').{{sfn\|Johns\|2004\|p=10}}
	The name of Baba Yaga is composed of two elements. ''Baba'' (originally a child's word) means an ''older or married woman of lower social class'' or simply ] in most ] languages. ''Yaga'' is a diminutive form of the Slavic name ]: (Jaga/Jagusia/Jadzia, etc.), although some etymologists conjecture other roots for the word. For example, ] mentions the ] ''ęgа''.

	==~~Folklore~~==		== Attestations ==
	]]]

			]]]
	In Russian tales, Baba Yaga is portrayed as a ] who flies through the air in a ], using the pestle as a rudder and sweeping away the tracks behind her with a broom made out of ]. She lives in a log cabin that moves around on a pair of dancing ] legs. The keyhole to her front door is a mouth filled with sharp teeth; the fence outside is made with human bones with skulls on top — often with one pole lacking its skull, so there is space for the hero or heroes. In another legend, the house does not reveal the door until it is told a magical phrase: ''Turn your back to the forest, your front to me''.
			] wrote that depictions of Baba Yaga taken from various fairy tales do not create a coherent image.<ref>*А.А. Орлова, Ю.С. Обидина, (Visualization of Social Satire in 18th Century Russia (On the Example of the Image of Baba-Yaga)) citing: Пропп В.Я. Исторические корни волшебной сказки. М.: Лабиринт, 2000, p. 36</ref>

			The first clear reference to Baba Yaga (''{{lang\|ru\|Iaga baba}}'') occurs in 1755 in ]'s ''{{ill\|lt=Russian Grammar\|Russian Grammar (Lomonosov)\|ru\|Российская грамматика}}''. In Lomonosov's grammar book, Baba Yaga is mentioned twice among other figures largely from Slavic tradition. The second of the two mentions occurs within a list of ] and beings next to their ] in ] (the Slavic god ], for example, appears equated with the Roman god ]). Baba Yaga, however, appears in a third section without an equivalence, highlighting her perceived uniqueness even in this first known attestation.{{sfn\|Johns\|2004\|p=12}}
	]

			In the narratives in which Baba Yaga appears, she displays a number of distinctive attributes: a turning, chicken-legged hut; and a ], and/or mop or broom. Baba Yaga may ride on the broom or, most recognizably, inside a mortar, using the broom to sweep away her tracks.<ref name=ef/> Russian ethnographer {{ill\|Andrey Toporkov\|ru\|Топорков, Андрей Львович}} explains Baba Yaga's selection of tools by numerous pagan rituals involving women. He suggests that the pestle was first to be used by Baba Yaga, because it may be used as a weapon (as such, it was used in a number of rituals) and the mortar was added later by an association.<ref>Andrey Toporkov, </ref>
	In some ], her house is connected with three riders: one in white, riding a white horse with white harness, who is Day; a red rider, who is the Sun; and one in black, who is Night. She is served by invisible servants inside the house. She will explain about the riders if asked, but may kill a visitor who inquires about the servants.
	Baba Yaga is sometimes shown as an antagonist, and sometimes as a source of guidance; there are stories where she helps people with their quests, and stories in which she kidnaps children and threatens to eat them. Seeking out her aid is usually portrayed as a dangerous act. An emphasis is placed on the need for proper preparation and purity of spirit, as well as basic politeness.

			Baba Yaga often bears the ] ''{{lang\|ru\|Baba Yaga kostyanaya noga}}'' ('bony leg'), or ''{{lang\|ru\|Baba Yaga s zheleznymi zubami}}'' ('with iron teeth')<ref>{{Cite web \| url=https://www.worldoftales.com/European_folktales/Russian_Folktale_23.html#gsc.tab=0 \| title=Baba Yaga – Old Peter's Russian tales \|year=1916}}</ref> and when inside her dwelling, she may be found stretched out over the stove, reaching from one corner of the hut to another. Baba Yaga may sense and mention the ''{{lang\|ru\|russkiy dukh}}'' ('Russian scent') of those that visit her. Her nose may stick into the ceiling. Particular emphasis may be placed by some narrators on the repulsiveness of her nose, breasts, buttocks, or vulva.{{sfn\|Johns\|1998\|p=21}}
	In the folk tale ], the young girl of the title is sent to visit Baba Yaga on an errand and is enslaved by her, but the hag's servants — a cat, a dog, a gate and a tree — help Vasilissa to escape because she has been kind to them. In the end, Baba Yaga is turned into a crow. Similarly, Prince Ivan in ] is aided against her by animals whom he has spared.

			], in ''Vasilisa the Beautiful'', 1900]]
	In another version of the ] story recorded by ] (''Narodnye russkie skazki'', vol 4, 1862), Vasilissa is given three impossible tasks that she solves using a magic doll given to her by her mother.

			Sometimes Baba Yaga is said to live in the ]: "Beyond the thrice-nine kingdoms, in the thirtieth realm, beyond the fiery river, lives the Baba Yaga."<ref>{{cite wikisource \|editor-last=Afanasyev \|editor-first=Alexander \|chapter=Marya Morevna \|wslink=The Russian Fairy Book \|year=1907 \|location=New York \|publisher=]}}</ref> In some tales, a trio of Baba Yagas appears as sisters, all sharing the same name. For example, in a version of "The Maiden Tsar" collected in the 19th century by ], Ivan, a handsome merchant's son, makes his way to the home of one of three Baba Yagas:{{sfn\|Afanasyev\|1973\|p=231}}
	Baba Yaga in ] folklore differs in details. For example, the Polish Baba Jaga's house has only one chicken leg. Bad witches living in gingerbread houses are also commonly named Baba Jaga.

			{{Blockquote
	In some fairy tales, such as '']'', the hero meets not with one but ] Baba Yagas. Such figures are usually benevolent, giving the hero advice or magical presents, or both.<ref>W. R. S. Ralston ''Songs of the Russian People'' </ref>
			\|text=He journeyed onwards, straight ahead ... and finally came to a little hut; it stood in the open field, turning on chicken legs. He entered and found Baba Yaga the Bony-legged. "Fie, fie," she said, "the Russian smell was never heard of nor caught sight of here, but it has come by itself. Are you here of your own free will or by compulsion, my good youth?" "Largely of my own free will, and twice as much by compulsion! Do you know, Baba Yaga, where lies the thrice tenth kingdom?" "No, I do not," she said, and told him to go to her second sister; she might know..
			\|author=]
			\|title="]"
			\|source='']'' (1973)
			}}

			], Baba Yaga, illustration in 1911 from "The tale of the three tsar's wonders and of Ivashka, the priest's son" (A. S. Roslavlev)\|alt=]]
	<span id="cabin"></span><!--anchor for direct link to this section - please don't remove-->

			Ivan walks for some time before encountering a small hut identical to the first. This Baba Yaga makes the same comments and asks the same question as the first, and Ivan asks the same question. This second Baba Yaga does not know either and directs him to the third, but says that if she gets angry with him "and wants to devour you, take three horns from her and ask her permission to blow them; blow the first one softly, the second one louder, and third still louder." Ivan thanks her and continues on his journey.<!-- no ref needed (]) -->
	== Cabin on chicken legs ==
	], "Изба смерти" ("Hut of Death", sketch, 1905), an artistic expression of burial traditions of Ancient Slavs]]A "cabin on chicken legs with no windows and no doors" in which Baba Yaga dwells sounds like pure fantasy. In fact, this is an interpretation of an ordinary construction popular among ]-]ic peoples of ] of ] (]) and ]ic families, invented to preserve supplies against animals during long periods of absence. A doorless and windowless ] is built upon supports made from the stumps of two or three closely grown trees cut at the height of eight to ten feet. The stumps, with their spreading roots, give a good impression of "chicken legs". The only access into the cabin is via a ] in the middle of the floor. ]s are strong, smart and stubborn enough to break into any door, but they cannot use a ladder or climb a rope to reach the trapdoor.{{Fact\|date=February 2007}}

			After walking for some time, Ivan eventually finds the chicken-legged hut of the youngest of the three sisters turning in an open field. This third and youngest of the Baba Yagas makes the same comment about "the Russian smell" before running to whet her teeth and consume Ivan. Ivan begs her to give him three horns and she does so. The first he blows softly, the second louder, and the third louder yet. This causes birds of all sorts to arrive and swarm the hut. One of the birds is the ], which tells him to hop on its back or Baba Yaga will eat him. He does so and the Baba Yaga rushes him and grabs the firebird by its tail. The firebird leaves with Ivan, leaving Baba Yaga behind with a fistful of firebird feathers.<!-- no ref needed (]) -->
	A similar but smaller construction was used by Siberian ] to hold ]s of their gods. Recalling the late ] among Siberian peoples, a common picture of a bone-carved doll in rags in a small cabin on top of a tree stump fits a common description of Baba Yaga, who barely fits her cabin: legs in one corner, head in another one, her nose grown into the ceiling.{{Fact\|date=February 2007}}

			In Afanasyev's collection of tales, Baba Yaga also appears in "Baba Yaga and Zamoryshek", "By Command of the Prince Daniel", "]", "]", {{ill\|"Realms of Copper, Silver, and Gold"\|fr\|Les Trois Royaumes (conte)}}, "]", and "Legless Knight and Blind Knight" (English titles from Magnus's translation).{{sfn\| Afanasyev\|1916\|pp=.xiii{{ndash}}xv}}
	There are indications that ancient Slavs had a funeral tradition of cremation in huts of this type. In 1948 Russian archaeologists Yefimenko and Tretyakov discovered small huts of the described type with traces of corpse cremation and circular fences around them; yet another possible connection to the Baba Yaga myth.
	<ref>Рыбаков Б.А., "Язычество Древней Руси" (1987) Moscow, '']'' </ref><ref>Ефименко П. П., Третьяков П. Н. Курганный могильник у с. Боршева. МИА, № 8. М.; Л., 1948, рис. 37-42.)</ref>

			Andreas Johns describes Baba Yaga as "one of the most memorable and distinctive figures in eastern European folklore", and observes that she is "enigmatic" and often exhibits "striking ambiguity".{{sfn\|Johns\|2004\|p=1{{ndash}}3}} He characterizes Baba Yaga as "a many-faceted figure, capable of inspiring researchers to see her as a Cloud, Moon, Death, Winter, Snake, Bird, Pelican or Earth Goddess, totemic matriarchal ancestress, female initiator, ], or archetypal image".{{sfn\|Johns\|2004\|p=9}}
	==Baba Yaga in popular culture==
	Baba Yaga has been featured in music, film, roleplaying games, modern fiction, videogames, comic books, and other media as well.

			== Depiction on ''lubki'' ==
	===Comics===
	In the comic ''Baba Yaga'' by ], ] meets and fights Baba Yaga.

			]
	Baba Yaga also appears in "The Hunt," a story appearing in ]'s '']'' series.
			]]]
			Baba Yaga appears on a variety of ''{{lang\|ru\|]}}'' (singular ''{{lang\|ru\|lubok}}''), wood block prints popular in late 17th and early 18th century Russia. In some instances, Baba Yaga appears astride a pig going to battle against a reptilian entity referred to as "crocodile". ] interpreted this scene as a political ]. ] persecuted ]s, who in turn referred to him as a crocodile. Rovinsky notices that some ''{{lang\|ru\|lubki}}'' feature a ship below the crocodile, interpreted as a hint to the rule of Peter the Great, while Baba Yaga dressed in a Finnish dress ("chukhonka dress") is a hint to Peter the Great's wife ], sometimes derisively referred to as the ''{{lang\|ru\|chukhonka}}'' ('Finnish woman'). A lubok that features Baba Yaga dancing with a ]-playing bald man has been identified as a merrier depiction of the home life of Peter and Catherine.<ref>Русские народные картинки: в 2-х томах. Т. 1 / Собрал и описал Д.А. Ровинский; посмертный труд
			печатан под наблюдением Н.П. Собко. СПб.: Издание Р. Голике, 1900. 368 с</ref> {{sfn\|Johns\|2004\|p=15}} Some other scholars{{who\|date=May 2024}} have interpreted these {{lang\|ru\|lubki}} motifs as reflecting a concept of Baba Yaga as a ]. The "crocodile" would in this case represent a monster who fights witches, and the print would be something of a "cultural mélange" that "demonstrate an interest in shamanism at the time".{{sfn\|Johns\|2004\|pp=15{{ndash}}16}}

			According to Andreas Johns, "Neither of these two interpretations significantly changes the image of Baba Yaga familiar from folktales. Either she can be seen as a literal evil witch, treated somewhat humorously in these prints, or as a figurative 'witch', an unpopular foreign empress. Both literal and figurative understandings of Baba Yaga are documented in the nineteenth century and were probably present at the time these prints were made."{{sfn\|Johns\|2004\|pp=15{{ndash}}16}}
	In DC Comics's '']'' by ] she spies for the evil "Adversary".

			== Related figures and analogues ==
	===Computer games===
	In the first '']'' computer game by ], Baba Yaga is the main villain. She also appears in '']''.

	Baba Yaga is a character appearing in the MMORPG '']'' during a quest called "Lunar Diplomacy." She resides in a log cabin on moving chicken legs.

			{{Ill\|Ježibaba\|cs}}, a figure closely related to Baba Yaga, occurs in the folklore of the ]. The two figures may originate from a common figure known during the ] or earlier; both figures are similarly ambiguous in character, but differ in appearance and the different tale types they occur in. Questions linger regarding the limited Slavic area—East Slavic nations, Slovakia, and the ]—in which references to Ježibaba are recorded.{{sfn\|Johns\|2004\|page=61{{ndash}}66}} {{Ill\|Jędza\|pl}}, another figure related to Baba Yaga, appears in Polish folklore.{{sfn\|Hubbs\|1993\|p=40}}
	===Film===
	Baba Yaga is a favorite subject of Russian films and cartoons. The animated film ] features Baba Yaga as a main character, but is not the antagonist. Indeed, the film '']'' by Aleksandr Rou, featuring Baba Yaga, was the first feature with fantasy elements in the Soviet Union, and the figure appeared often during the Soviet era.<ref>James Graham, ""</ref> In the Soviet era, she was interpreted as an exploiter of her animal servants.<ref>Angela Carter, ''The Old Wives' Fairy Tale Book'', p 239, Pantheon Books, New York, 1990 ISBN 0-679-74037-6 </ref>

			Similarities between Baba Yaga and other beings in folklore may be due to either direct relation or cultural contact between the Eastern Slavs and other surrounding peoples.{{cn\|reason=Reasonable statement but should have a direct citation, citation below does not appear to support it.\|date=March 2023}} In Central and Eastern Europe, these figures include the Bulgarian '']'' (Горска майка', 'Forest Mother', also ]); the Hungarian ''vasorrú bába'' ('Iron-nose Midwife'), the Serbian '']'', '']'' ('Iron-tooth'), ''Baba Roga'' (used to scare children in ], ], ], ] and ]), '']'' ('Forest Mother'), and the babice; and the Slovenian ''jaga baba'' or ''ježibaba'', ''Pehta'' or ''Pehtra baba'' and ''kvatrna baba'' or ''kvatrnica''. In Romanian folklore, similarities have been identified in several figures, including '']'' ('Forest Mother') or ''Baba Cloanța'' referring to the nose as a bird's beak. In neighboring Germanic Europe, similarities have been observed between the Alpine '']'' and '']'' or ''Holle'' in the folklore of Central and Northern Germany, and the Swiss '']''.{{sfn\|Johns\|2004\|pages=68–84}}
	===Literature===
	Baba Yaga is the primary antagonist in the fantasy novel ] by ].

			Some scholars have proposed that the concept of Baba Yaga was influenced by East Slavic contact with ] and ]. The "] deep in the forest" plainly resembles huts raised on one or several stilts using stump with roots for the stilts, in popular use by Finno-Ugric peoples and also found in forests rather than villages. The stumps with roots may be uprooted and laid in a new place as in the example exhibited in Skansen, or in ground where it was felled. Like Baba Yaga's hut, these are normally cramped for a person, though unlike Baba Yaga's house they do not actively walk and also do not contain a stove, being intended as storehouses and not for living.{{sfn\|Johns\|2004\|p=61}} The ] figure '']'' has some aspects of Baba Yaga, but only the negative ones, while in other Karelian tales, helpful roles akin to those from Baba Yaga may be performed by a character called ''{{lang\|olo\|]}}'' ('old woman').{{sfn\|Johns\|2004\|pp=80–82}}
	Baba Yaga appears in the short story ''Joseph & Koza'' by ]-winning writer ].

			== In popular culture ==
	Baba Yaga was regularly featured in stories in '']'', a popular children's magazine.
			<!--Please do not add anything here without citing a reliable source (textbook, scholarly journal article). It is not enough to cite a primary source like a game's own website. Any uncited, trivial, or unreliably cited material will be removed.-->

			* ]'s 1874 suite '']'' has a ] titled "The Hut on Hen's Legs (Baba Yaga)". The ] recorded by the English progressive rock band ] includes a two-part track "The Hut of Baba Yaga", interrupted by "The Curse of Baba Yaga" (movements 8 to 10).<ref>{{Citation \| title=Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Pictures at an Exhibition \|website= AllMusic \| url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/pictures-at-an-exhibition-mw0000189897 \| access-date=27 March 2023}}</ref>
	===Music===
			* Animated segments telling the story of Baba Yaga were used in the 2014 documentary ''The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga'', directed by American filmmaker ].<ref>{{Cite web \|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/sep/29/the-vanquishing-of-the-witch-baba-yaga-review-bewitching-nature-documentary \|title=The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga review – bewitching nature documentary \|last=Hoad \|first=Phil \|date=29 September 2016 \|website=] \|publisher=Guardian News & Media Limited \|access-date=13 September 2022 \|quote=}}</ref> GennaRose Nethercott's first novel, ''Thistlefoot'', "reimagines Baba Yaga as a Jewish woman living in an Eastern European ] in 1919, during a time of ] and ]."<ref>{{cite web \|last1=Yu \|first1=Mallory \|title=GennaRose Nethercott uses folklore to explore a painful, and personal, history \|url=https://www.npr.org/2022/10/08/1126993880/book-thistlefoot-baba-yaga-folklore-tales-jewish-slavic \|website=] \|access-date=29 September 2023 \|date=8 October 2022}}</ref>
	There are two well-known musical references to Baba Yaga. The ninth piece in ] ], a suite originally composed for piano (though more famous in its orchestration by ]), is entitled "The Hut on Hen’s Legs (Baba Yaga)". When the progressive rock group ] performed an adaptation of Mussorgsky's suite, they included Mussorgsky's piece about the hut of Baba Yaga as well as a new track entitled "The Curse of Baba Yaga." In the symphonic poem "Baba Yaga" (Op. 56) by ], the music depicts Baba Yaga summoning her mortar, pestle and broomstick, then flying off through the forest.
			* ]'s book '']'', which received various accolades,<ref>{{Cite web \|title=The House With Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson \|url=https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781338209969J&name=House_With_Chicken_Legs \|access-date=15 September 2023 \|website=] \|archive-date=29 November 2021 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211129172246/https://www.juniorlibraryguild.com/book/landing/detailedview?itemcode=9781338209969J&name=House_With_Chicken_Legs \|url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web \|title=The House with Chicken Legs (Paperback) \|url=https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-house-with-chicken-legs/sophie-anderson/9781474940665 \|access-date=15 September 2023 \|website=] \|archive-date=30 January 2023 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130082450/https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-house-with-chicken-legs/sophie-anderson/9781474940665 \|url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news \|last=Williams \|first=Imogen Russell \|date=26 May 2018 \|title=Children's and teens roundup: the best new picture books and novels \|work=] \|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/may/26/childrens-teens-roundup-best-new-picturebooks-novels \|access-date=15 September 2023 \|issn=0261-3077 \|archive-date=8 June 2023 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608043959/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/may/26/childrens-teens-roundup-best-new-picturebooks-novels \|url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news \|author1=Guardian readers \|date=20 December 2018 \|title='Genuinely brilliant from cover to cover': your favourite books of 2018 \|work=] \|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/dec/20/genuinely-brilliant-from-cover-to-cover-your-favourite-books-of-2018 \|access-date=15 September 2023 \|issn=0261-3077 \|archive-date=19 May 2023 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230519195623/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/dec/20/genuinely-brilliant-from-cover-to-cover-your-favourite-books-of-2018 \|url-status=live }}</ref> features Marinka, the granddaughter of Baba Yaga. Here "Yaga" is not a name, but a title for the guardian who guides the dead into the afterlife, and Marinka is being trained for this role. Yagas are reimagined as kind and benevolent.<ref>, book review at ].</ref><ref>, book review at ].</ref>
			* Babaroga, which is the ] term for Baba Yaga, served as an inspiration to Australian filmmaker ] for the creation of the Babadook, a creature from her 2014 film ].<ref>{{cite magazine \| url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/boogeyman-nights-the-story-behind-this-years-horror-hit-the-babadook-49141/ \| title=The Story Behind This Year's Horror Hit 'The Babadook' \| magazine=] \| date=27 November 2014 }}</ref>

			There is a large number of Russian fairy-tale and fantasy films where Baba Yaga features as a prominent secondary character, either a villain or a helper. In a number of them Baba Yaga is among the main characters.
	===Roleplaying games===
			*1979: '']'': Baba Yaga and other villains plot against the ], the ] ] of the ] in Moscow.
	Baba Yaga has made several appearances in the '']'' ] roleplaying game. Baba Yaga's hut is mentioned as an ] in the first edition '']'' (1979), by ]. Two adventures taking place in Baba Yaga's hut were also published for the game.<ref> "The Dancing Hut" in '']'' #83 (1984) and '']'' (1995).</ref>
			*2006: A Russian full feature animated film {{ill\|Babka Yozhka and the Others\|ru\|Бабка Ёжка и другие}} received several awards. "Babka Yozhka" is a diminutive for "Baba Yaga" and the animated film is a about a little foundling girl brought up by Baba Yaga and other fairy tale creatures.<ref></ref>

			== See also ==
	The World War II superhero roleplaying game '']'', by ], includes an insane Soviet "Talent" called Baba Yaga. Created through Soviet torture experiments designed to produce super-powered humans, Baba Yaga can change into a cabin on hideous chicken legs, and is known to attack German and Soviet troops on the Eastern Front.<ref>Dennis Detwiller and Greg Stolze ''GODLIKE: Superhero Roleplaying in a World On Fire, 1936-1946'', p 152, Arc Dream Publishing, 2002, ISBN 0-97106-420-2 </ref>

			{{div col begin}}
	==References==
	<div class="references-small"><references/></div>

			* ], a night spirit in Slavic folklore
	{{Slavmyth}}
			* ]
			* ] / ]
			* "]"
			* ]
			* ]
			* "]", a Ukrainian fairy tale
			* ]
			* ]
			* "]"
			* ], a cannibalistic ugly crone in Japanese folklore
			{{div col end}}

			== Citations ==
	]
	]
	]
	]
	]

			{{Reflist}}
	]

	]
			== Sources ==
	]

	]
			* {{Cite book \|title =Russian Folk-Tales \|first =Alexander \|last=Afanasyev \|author-link=Alexander Afanasyev \|editor-first=Leonard A. \|editor-last=Magnus \|year=1916 \|url=https://archive.org/details/russianfolktales00afan_0 \|publisher=] }}
	]
			* {{Cite book \|last1=Afanasyev \|first1=Alexander \|author1-link=Alexander Afanasyev \|translator-last1=Guterman \|translator-first1=Norbert \|translator1-link=Norbert Guterman \|title=Russian Fairy Tales \|date=1973 \|orig-year=1945 \|publisher=] \|location=New York \|isbn=978-0-394-73090-5 \|url=https://archive.org/details/russianfairytale00afan/page/n5/mode/2up \|url-access=registration}}
	]
			* {{Cite book \|last=Henry \|first=C. \|editor-last=Ryan \|editor-first=L. \|date=2022 \|title=Into the Forest: Tales of the Baba Yaga \|publisher=Black Spot Books \|isbn=978-1-64548-123-2}}
	]
			* {{Cite journal \|last=Johns \|first=Andreas \|year=1998 \|title=Baba Yaga and the Russian Mother \|journal=The Slavic and East European Journal \|volume=42 \|issue=1 \|pages=21–36 \|publisher=] \|doi=10.2307/310050 \|jstor=310050}}
	]
			* {{Cite book \|last1=Johns \|first1=Andreas \|title=Baba Yaga: The Ambiguous Mother and Witch of the Russian Folktale \|date=2004 \|publisher=] \|location=New York \|isbn=978-0-8204-6769-6 \|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yVN64AACjMAC}}
	]
			* {{Cite book \|last=Hubbs \|first=Joanna \|title=Mother Russia: The Feminine Myth in Russian culture \|date=1993 \|publisher=Indiana University Press \|isbn=978-0-253-20842-2 \|edition=1st Midland Book \|location=Bloomington \|oclc=29539185 }}
	]
			* {{Cite web \|last=Ness \|first=Mari \|title=Chicken Feet and Fiery Skulls: Tales of the Russian Witch Baba Yaga \|url=https://www.tor.com/2021/08/13/tales-of-the-russian-witch-baba-yaga/ \|website=] \|access-date=29 September 2023 \|date=13 August 2021}}
	]

	]
			== Further reading ==
	]
			* {{cite journal \|last=Cooper \|first=Brian \|title=Baba-Yaga, the Bony-Legged: A Short Note on the Witch and Her Name \|journal=New Zealand Slavonic Journal \|date=1997 \|pages=82–88 \|jstor=23806796}} Accessed 31 Aug. 2024.
	]

	]
			== External links ==
	]

	]
			{{Commons category}}
	]

	]
			* , BBC
	]

			{{Slavic mythology}}
			{{Russian fairy tales}}
			{{Witchcraft}}
			{{Authority control}}

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			]
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Latest revision as of 03:40, 27 December 2024

Slavic mythological figure This article is about the entity in Slavic folklore. For adaptations and other uses, see Baba Yaga (disambiguation). "Babaroga" redirects here. For other uses, see Babaroga (disambiguation).

Baba Yaga is an enigmatic or ambiguous character from Slavic folklore (or one of a trio of sisters of the same name) who has two opposite roles. In some motifs she is described as a repulsive or ferocious-looking old woman who fries and eats children, while in others she is a nice old woman who helps out the hero. She is often associated with forest wildlife. Her distinctive traits are flying around in a wooden mortar, wielding a pestle, and dwelling deep in the forest in a hut standing on chicken legs.

Etymology

Variations of the name Baba Yaga are found in many Slavic languages. In Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Romanian and Bulgarian, baba means 'grandmother' or 'old woman'. In contemporary Polish and Russian, baba / баба is also a pejorative synonym for 'woman', in particular one that is old, dirty or foolish. As with other kinship terms in Slavic languages, baba may be used in other ways, potentially as a result of taboo; it may be applied to various animals, natural phenomena, and objects, such as types of mushrooms, cake or pears. The element may appear as a means of glossing the second element, iaga, with a familiar component or may have also been applied as a means of distinguishing Baba Yaga from a male counterpart.

Yaga is more etymologically problematic and there exists no clear consensus among scholars about its meaning. In the 19th century, Alexander Afanasyev proposed the derivation of Proto-Slavic *ož and Sanskrit ahi ('serpent'). This etymology has been explored by 20th-century scholars. Related terms appear in Serbian and Croatian jeza ('horror', 'shudder', 'chill'), Slovene jeza ('anger'), Old Czech jězě ('witch', 'legendary evil female being'), modern Czech jezinka ('wicked wood nymph', 'dryad'), and Polish jędza ('witch', 'evil woman', 'fury'). The term appears in Old Church Slavonic as jęza/jędza ('disease'). In other Indo-European languages the element iaga has been linked to Lithuanian engti ('to abuse (continuously)', 'to belittle', 'to exploit'), Old English inca ('doubt', 'worry", 'pain'), and Old Norse ekki ('pain', 'worry').

Attestations

Vladimir Propp wrote that depictions of Baba Yaga taken from various fairy tales do not create a coherent image.

The first clear reference to Baba Yaga (Iaga baba) occurs in 1755 in Mikhail V. Lomonosov's Russian Grammar [ru]. In Lomonosov's grammar book, Baba Yaga is mentioned twice among other figures largely from Slavic tradition. The second of the two mentions occurs within a list of Slavic gods and beings next to their presumed equivalence in Roman mythology (the Slavic god Perun, for example, appears equated with the Roman god Jupiter). Baba Yaga, however, appears in a third section without an equivalence, highlighting her perceived uniqueness even in this first known attestation.

In the narratives in which Baba Yaga appears, she displays a number of distinctive attributes: a turning, chicken-legged hut; and a mortar, pestle, and/or mop or broom. Baba Yaga may ride on the broom or, most recognizably, inside a mortar, using the broom to sweep away her tracks. Russian ethnographer Andrey Toporkov [ru] explains Baba Yaga's selection of tools by numerous pagan rituals involving women. He suggests that the pestle was first to be used by Baba Yaga, because it may be used as a weapon (as such, it was used in a number of rituals) and the mortar was added later by an association.

Baba Yaga often bears the epithet Baba Yaga kostyanaya noga ('bony leg'), or Baba Yaga s zheleznymi zubami ('with iron teeth') and when inside her dwelling, she may be found stretched out over the stove, reaching from one corner of the hut to another. Baba Yaga may sense and mention the russkiy dukh ('Russian scent') of those that visit her. Her nose may stick into the ceiling. Particular emphasis may be placed by some narrators on the repulsiveness of her nose, breasts, buttocks, or vulva.

Sometimes Baba Yaga is said to live in the Faraway or Thrice-ninth Tsardom: "Beyond the thrice-nine kingdoms, in the thirtieth realm, beyond the fiery river, lives the Baba Yaga." In some tales, a trio of Baba Yagas appears as sisters, all sharing the same name. For example, in a version of "The Maiden Tsar" collected in the 19th century by Alexander Afanasyev, Ivan, a handsome merchant's son, makes his way to the home of one of three Baba Yagas:

He journeyed onwards, straight ahead ... and finally came to a little hut; it stood in the open field, turning on chicken legs. He entered and found Baba Yaga the Bony-legged. "Fie, fie," she said, "the Russian smell was never heard of nor caught sight of here, but it has come by itself. Are you here of your own free will or by compulsion, my good youth?" "Largely of my own free will, and twice as much by compulsion! Do you know, Baba Yaga, where lies the thrice tenth kingdom?" "No, I do not," she said, and told him to go to her second sister; she might know..
— Alexander Afanasyev, "The Maiden Tsar", Russian Fairy Tales (1973)

Ivan walks for some time before encountering a small hut identical to the first. This Baba Yaga makes the same comments and asks the same question as the first, and Ivan asks the same question. This second Baba Yaga does not know either and directs him to the third, but says that if she gets angry with him "and wants to devour you, take three horns from her and ask her permission to blow them; blow the first one softly, the second one louder, and third still louder." Ivan thanks her and continues on his journey.

After walking for some time, Ivan eventually finds the chicken-legged hut of the youngest of the three sisters turning in an open field. This third and youngest of the Baba Yagas makes the same comment about "the Russian smell" before running to whet her teeth and consume Ivan. Ivan begs her to give him three horns and she does so. The first he blows softly, the second louder, and the third louder yet. This causes birds of all sorts to arrive and swarm the hut. One of the birds is the firebird, which tells him to hop on its back or Baba Yaga will eat him. He does so and the Baba Yaga rushes him and grabs the firebird by its tail. The firebird leaves with Ivan, leaving Baba Yaga behind with a fistful of firebird feathers.

In Afanasyev's collection of tales, Baba Yaga also appears in "Baba Yaga and Zamoryshek", "By Command of the Prince Daniel", "Vasilisa the Fair", "Marya Moryevna", "Realms of Copper, Silver, and Gold" [fr], "The Sea Tsar and Vasilisa the Wise", and "Legless Knight and Blind Knight" (English titles from Magnus's translation).

Andreas Johns describes Baba Yaga as "one of the most memorable and distinctive figures in eastern European folklore", and observes that she is "enigmatic" and often exhibits "striking ambiguity". He characterizes Baba Yaga as "a many-faceted figure, capable of inspiring researchers to see her as a Cloud, Moon, Death, Winter, Snake, Bird, Pelican or Earth Goddess, totemic matriarchal ancestress, female initiator, phallic mother, or archetypal image".

Depiction on lubki

Baba Yaga appears on a variety of lubki (singular lubok), wood block prints popular in late 17th and early 18th century Russia. In some instances, Baba Yaga appears astride a pig going to battle against a reptilian entity referred to as "crocodile". Dmitry Rovinsky interpreted this scene as a political parody. Peter the Great persecuted Old Believers, who in turn referred to him as a crocodile. Rovinsky notices that some lubki feature a ship below the crocodile, interpreted as a hint to the rule of Peter the Great, while Baba Yaga dressed in a Finnish dress ("chukhonka dress") is a hint to Peter the Great's wife Catherine I, sometimes derisively referred to as the chukhonka ('Finnish woman'). A lubok that features Baba Yaga dancing with a bagpipe-playing bald man has been identified as a merrier depiction of the home life of Peter and Catherine. Some other scholars have interpreted these lubki motifs as reflecting a concept of Baba Yaga as a shaman. The "crocodile" would in this case represent a monster who fights witches, and the print would be something of a "cultural mélange" that "demonstrate an interest in shamanism at the time".

According to Andreas Johns, "Neither of these two interpretations significantly changes the image of Baba Yaga familiar from folktales. Either she can be seen as a literal evil witch, treated somewhat humorously in these prints, or as a figurative 'witch', an unpopular foreign empress. Both literal and figurative understandings of Baba Yaga are documented in the nineteenth century and were probably present at the time these prints were made."

Related figures and analogues

Ježibaba [cs], a figure closely related to Baba Yaga, occurs in the folklore of the West Slavic peoples. The two figures may originate from a common figure known during the Middle Ages or earlier; both figures are similarly ambiguous in character, but differ in appearance and the different tale types they occur in. Questions linger regarding the limited Slavic area—East Slavic nations, Slovakia, and the Czech lands—in which references to Ježibaba are recorded. Jędza [pl], another figure related to Baba Yaga, appears in Polish folklore.

Similarities between Baba Yaga and other beings in folklore may be due to either direct relation or cultural contact between the Eastern Slavs and other surrounding peoples. In Central and Eastern Europe, these figures include the Bulgarian gorska maika (Горска майка', 'Forest Mother', also the name of a flower); the Hungarian vasorrú bába ('Iron-nose Midwife'), the Serbian Baba Korizma, Gvozdenzuba ('Iron-tooth'), Baba Roga (used to scare children in Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia), šumska majka ('Forest Mother'), and the babice; and the Slovenian jaga baba or ježibaba, Pehta or Pehtra baba and kvatrna baba or kvatrnica. In Romanian folklore, similarities have been identified in several figures, including Muma Pădurii ('Forest Mother') or Baba Cloanța referring to the nose as a bird's beak. In neighboring Germanic Europe, similarities have been observed between the Alpine Perchta and Holda or Holle in the folklore of Central and Northern Germany, and the Swiss Chlungeri.

Some scholars have proposed that the concept of Baba Yaga was influenced by East Slavic contact with Finno-Ugric and Siberian peoples. The "hut on chicken legs deep in the forest" plainly resembles huts raised on one or several stilts using stump with roots for the stilts, in popular use by Finno-Ugric peoples and also found in forests rather than villages. The stumps with roots may be uprooted and laid in a new place as in the example exhibited in Skansen, or in ground where it was felled. Like Baba Yaga's hut, these are normally cramped for a person, though unlike Baba Yaga's house they do not actively walk and also do not contain a stove, being intended as storehouses and not for living. The Karelian figure Syöjätär has some aspects of Baba Yaga, but only the negative ones, while in other Karelian tales, helpful roles akin to those from Baba Yaga may be performed by a character called akka ('old woman').

In popular culture

Mussorgsky's 1874 suite Pictures at an Exhibition has a movement titled "The Hut on Hen's Legs (Baba Yaga)". The rock adaptation of this piece recorded by the English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer includes a two-part track "The Hut of Baba Yaga", interrupted by "The Curse of Baba Yaga" (movements 8 to 10).
Animated segments telling the story of Baba Yaga were used in the 2014 documentary The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga, directed by American filmmaker Jessica Oreck. GennaRose Nethercott's first novel, Thistlefoot, "reimagines Baba Yaga as a Jewish woman living in an Eastern European shtetl in 1919, during a time of civil war and pogroms."
Sophie Anderson's book The House With Chicken Legs, which received various accolades, features Marinka, the granddaughter of Baba Yaga. Here "Yaga" is not a name, but a title for the guardian who guides the dead into the afterlife, and Marinka is being trained for this role. Yagas are reimagined as kind and benevolent.
Babaroga, which is the Serbo-Croatian term for Baba Yaga, served as an inspiration to Australian filmmaker Jennifer Kent for the creation of the Babadook, a creature from her 2014 film of the same name.

There is a large number of Russian fairy-tale and fantasy films where Baba Yaga features as a prominent secondary character, either a villain or a helper. In a number of them Baba Yaga is among the main characters.

1979: Baba Yaga is against!: Baba Yaga and other villains plot against the Misha, the Russian Bear mascot of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.
2006: A Russian full feature animated film Babka Yozhka and the Others [ru] received several awards. "Babka Yozhka" is a diminutive for "Baba Yaga" and the animated film is a about a little foundling girl brought up by Baba Yaga and other fairy tale creatures.

Citations

^ "Баба-яга" . Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). 1906.
^ Johns 2004, p. 9.
Johns 2004, p. 10.
*А.А. Орлова, Ю.С. Обидина, ВИЗУАЛИЗАЦИЯ СОЦИАЛЬНОЙ САТИРЫ В РОССИИ XVIII ВЕКА (НА ПРИМЕРЕ ОБРАЗА БАБЫ-ЯГИ) (Visualization of Social Satire in 18th Century Russia (On the Example of the Image of Baba-Yaga)) citing: Пропп В.Я. Исторические корни волшебной сказки. М.: Лабиринт, 2000, p. 36
Johns 2004, p. 12.
Andrey Toporkov, "Откуда у Бабы-Яги ступа?"
"Baba Yaga – Old Peter's Russian tales". 1916.
Johns 1998, p. 21.
Afanasyev, Alexander, ed. (1907). "Marya Morevna" . The Russian Fairy Book . New York: Crowell – via Wikisource.
Afanasyev 1973, p. 231.
Afanasyev 1916, pp. .xiii–xv.
Johns 2004, p. 1–3.
Русские народные картинки: в 2-х томах. Т. 1 / Собрал и описал Д.А. Ровинский; посмертный труд печатан под наблюдением Н.П. Собко. СПб.: Издание Р. Голике, 1900. 368 с
Johns 2004, p. 15.
^ Johns 2004, pp. 15–16.
Johns 2004, p. 61–66.
Hubbs 1993, p. 40.
Johns 2004, pp. 68–84.
Johns 2004, p. 61.
Johns 2004, pp. 80–82.
"Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Pictures at an Exhibition", AllMusic, retrieved 27 March 2023
Hoad, Phil (29 September 2016). "The Vanquishing of the Witch Baba Yaga review – bewitching nature documentary". The Guardian. Guardian News & Media Limited. Retrieved 13 September 2022.
Yu, Mallory (8 October 2022). "GennaRose Nethercott uses folklore to explore a painful, and personal, history". NPR. Retrieved 29 September 2023.
"The House With Chicken Legs by Sophie Anderson". Junior Library Guild. Archived from the original on 29 November 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
"The House with Chicken Legs (Paperback)". Waterstones. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
Williams, Imogen Russell (26 May 2018). "Children's and teens roundup: the best new picture books and novels". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
Guardian readers (20 December 2018). "'Genuinely brilliant from cover to cover': your favourite books of 2018". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 19 May 2023. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
"The House with Chicken Legs", book review at Goodreads.
"The House with Chicken Legs", book review at Kirkus Reviews.
"The Story Behind This Year's Horror Hit 'The Babadook'". Rolling Stone. 27 November 2014.
всероссийская премьера полнометражного мультфильма "Бабка Ёжка и другие"

Sources

Afanasyev, Alexander (1916). Magnus, Leonard A. (ed.). Russian Folk-Tales. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co.
Afanasyev, Alexander (1973) . Russian Fairy Tales. Translated by Guterman, Norbert. New York: Pantheon Books. ISBN 978-0-394-73090-5.
Henry, C. (2022). Ryan, L. (ed.). Into the Forest: Tales of the Baba Yaga. Black Spot Books. ISBN 978-1-64548-123-2.
Johns, Andreas (1998). "Baba Yaga and the Russian Mother". The Slavic and East European Journal. 42 (1). American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages: 21–36. doi:10.2307/310050. JSTOR 310050.
Johns, Andreas (2004). Baba Yaga: The Ambiguous Mother and Witch of the Russian Folktale. New York: Peter Lang. ISBN 978-0-8204-6769-6.
Hubbs, Joanna (1993). Mother Russia: The Feminine Myth in Russian culture (1st Midland Book ed.). Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-20842-2. OCLC 29539185.
Ness, Mari (13 August 2021). "Chicken Feet and Fiery Skulls: Tales of the Russian Witch Baba Yaga". Tor.com. Retrieved 29 September 2023.

External links

Baba Yaga: The greatest 'wicked witch' of all?, BBC

Slavic mythology and religion

Personifications

Priesthood and cult

Unquiet dead	Vila Drekavac Kikimora Mavka Upiór
Place spirits	Bannik Bolotnik Cornflower Wraith Domovoy Dvorovoy Lady Midday Leshy Boruta Mistress of the Copper Mountain Moryana Ovinnik Polevik Vodyanoy Shubin Water spirits
Entities	Ala Alkonost Baba Yaga Babay Baš Čelik Bauk Berehynia Bies Black Arab Błędnica Blud Boginki Bukavac Chernava Chuhaister Cikavac Chort Čuma Dukljan Dziwożona Fern flower-Chervona Ruta Firebird Gagana Gamayun Indrik Ispolin Karzełek Koshchei Krsnik Likho Likhoradka Mare Meduza Molfar Nav Nocnitsa Płanetnik Povitrulya Psoglav Raróg Rahmans Raskovnik Rozhanitsy Rusalka Samodiva Sirin Shishiga Skrzak Strzyga Stuhać Stricha Sudice Tintilinić Topielec Ved Vesna Zduhać Zmey Werewolf

Ritual figures

Mythological places

Objects

Beliefs

Folklore

Literature

Christianization

Moravia (830s)
Bulgaria (860s)
Bohemia (880s)
Poland (960s)
Kievan Rus' (980s)
Pomerania (1120s–60s)
Bogomilism

Folk practices

Folk cults (also including Ossetian)	Ognyena Maria Paraskeva of Iconium Paraskeva Friday Nicholas the Wonderworker Veles Ilya the Prophet Uacilla George the Victorious Dazhbog Uastyrdzhi Saint Anastasia Saint Nedelya Saint Vlasius Veles Maslenitsa Saint Peter Donbettyr Saint Theodore Tutyr Saint Eustace Apsat

Revivalist organizations

In popular culture

Fantasy
Film

v t e Russian fairy tales
Key articles	Skazka Bylina Folklore of Russia Alexander Afanasyev Alexander Pushkin
Tales in Narodnye russkie skazki collected by Afanasyev	"Koschei the Immortal" "Vasilisa the Beautiful" "Vasilisa the Priest's Daughter" "Father Frost" "Sister Alenushka and Brother Ivanushka" "The Frog Princess" "Vasilii the Unlucky" "The White Duck" "The Princess Who Never Smiled" "The Wicked Sisters" "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" "The Magic Swan Geese" "The Feather of Finist the Falcon" "Tsarevitch Ivan, the Firebird and the Gray Wolf" "The Bold Knight, the Apples of Youth, and the Water of Life" "Go I Know Not Whither and Fetch I Know Not What" "The Golden Slipper" "The Firebird and Princess Vasilisa" "The Wise Little Girl" "The Armless Maiden" "The Gigantic Turnip" "Storm-Bogatyr, Ivan the Cow's Son" "Emelya the Simpleton/At the Pike's Behest" "The Fiend" "The Lute Player" "The Language of the Birds" "The Maiden Tsar" "The Sea Tsar and Vasilisa the Wise" "The Norka" "Dawn, Midnight and Twilight" "Verlioka" "Sivko-Burko" "Donotknow"
Tales by Pushkin	"Ruslan and Ludmila" "The Tale of Tsar Saltan" "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Fish" "The Tale of the Golden Cockerel"
Other	"The Little Humpbacked Horse" "The Scarlet Flower" "The Snow Maiden" "The Hairy Man" "King Kojata" "The Tale About Baba-Yaga" "The Wonderful Birch" "The Girl as Soldier" "Green-Vanka"

Latest revision as of 03:40, 27 December 2024

Etymology

Attestations

Depiction on lubki

Related figures and analogues

In popular culture

See also

Citations

Sources

Further reading

External links