Baba Yaga
Also called BabaYaga.
In Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga is a hag who lives in a hut standing on chicken legs. She travels in a mortar, wielding a pestle as both weapon and rudder.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Slavic folklore
- Region
- Slavic Forest/Wilderness (habitat)
- Trait family
- The Monstrous Broods (at its edge)
Near this figure
Symbols
Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.
- Broom bears image-domain The broom denotes the sweeping that orders a house and clears illusion, humble in the hand yet uncanny enough to carry a witch aloft.
why
As she travels, she sweeps away all traces of her passage with a broom made of silver birch.
- Iron bears Iron denotes meteoric power, hardness, durability, strength, and constancy, but also bondage, cruelty, war, evil, slavery, and a dark final age.
why
She is typically depicted as an ancient, wizened crone with iron teeth and a nose so long it touches the ceiling when she lies down.
- Witch is image-domain The witch denotes the hidden craft working behind appearances, caster of spells and mistress of disguise, seeing by second sight and questioning the dead.
why
She can be a helper or a hindrance, a wise woman or a cannibalistic witch.
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Form
- Hut on chicken legs
why
Her most distinctive feature is her dwelling: a hut that stands on giant chicken legs, allowing it to move and even dance at Baba Yaga's command.
- Fence of bones and skulls
why
This mobile home is often surrounded by a fence made of human bones, topped with skulls whose empty eye sockets glow in the dark.
- Iron teeth
why
She is typically depicted as an ancient, wizened crone with iron teeth and a nose so long it touches the ceiling when she lies down.
Behaviour
- Flies in mortar wielding pestle
why
She flies through the forest in a giant mortar, using a pestle as both a rudder and a weapon.
- Sets impossible tasks for visitors
why
She often sets seemingly impossible tasks for visitors, which, if completed, may earn her assistance.
Offensive powers
- Devouring
why
However, failure often results in the visitor being eaten.
Curses
- Judges visitors
why
Those who seek her out may find sage advice or face deadly trials.
Roles
Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.
- Shadow carries both readings
2 citations
- Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, s.v. "Baba Yaga."
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Baba Yaga."
- Death meets
2 citations
- Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, s.v. "Baba Yaga."
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Baba Yaga."
- Hero meets
2 citations
- Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, s.v. "Baba Yaga."
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Baba Yaga."