Baba Yaga has become a pop culture staple in everything from Hellboy to John Wick. But
where did she come from? How do you know when you've found Baba Yaga and not just a generic
forest witch? Is she definitely going to eat you? Can you go to her for a solid deal on
a good horse? This is the legend of Baba Yaga explained.
To start, let’s take a look at what "Baba Yaga" means. The exact origin of the name
is hard to pin down.
"Baba" is a Slavic word that means old woman, grandmother, or witch. And it’s likely related
to the modern Russian word for grandmother, "babushka."
However, the second part of the witch’s name is a little more obscure. It’s possible
that it’s a diminutive of the Slavic name Jadwiga, but there’s also a chance that
it comes from Slavic words that mean "abuse", "snake", or "wicked." Though, these days you’re
more likely to hear it pronounced "YA-ga" in popular culture, in the original Slavic
you pronounce it "ya-GA".
It’s likely Baba Yaga translates into "terrible old witch", but an equally solid, and in our
opinion, maybe even better translation is "spooky grandmother". Gangie would be proud.
"Hello? George Micheal?”
“I'm thirsty.”
Russian folklore is filled with stories about Baba Yaga. Sometimes she appears terrifyingly
sinister, while in other stories she takes on a look similar to a kind of supernatural
mother figure. However, there are some details that don’t change regardless of her role
in a story.
Baba Yaga is usually described as having an unnaturally long nose. Some stories say it
stretches all the way to her ceiling when she sleeps. A set of iron teeth is also a
common trait for this ancient witch. Baba Yaga is said to be skin and bones despite
her endless appetite, and a common epithet used to describe her is "boney-legged."
Her massive size is one of the more threatening elements of her appearance. Heroes in many
of the stories are said to find her laying on top of her enormous cooking stove, which
stretches from one end of her house to the other.
Long noses and boney fingers are a pretty common look for witches, but Baba Yaga really
stands out in the way she gets around. She’s known for sitting in a giant flying mortar
that she steers with an equally oversized pestle.
As she flies through the air in her strange vessel, she sweeps away her magical tracks
with a birch broom. This way she leaves no trace about where she’s going. It’s a
frustrating habit for those wandering through the wilderness trying to track her down.
You’ll know you’ve found Baba Yaga when you see her house. She has one of the most
interesting homes of any witch to ever lurk in the woods. Baba Yaga makes her home in
a hut perched atop a giant disembodied set of chicken legs.
The house itself is reminiscent of a log cabin, but the chicken legs are anything but normal.
They walk, they dance, and they keep Baba Yaga’s location mobile. The ability of the
house to move is one of its best security features. In a pinch, she can command the
legs to start walking and make her escape from any would be attackers.
The chicken legs aren’t the only unique feature of this one-of-a-kind piece of real
estate. The front door of Baba Yaga’s house won’t reveal itself unless you speak the
magical phrase, "Turn your back to the forest, your front to me." And even then, the door’s
keyhole is filled with razor sharp teeth.
There’s also a fence that circles her hut made of human bones, and lanterns top each
fence post made of the skulls of the witch’s victims. White picket fences are a cute addition
to any house, afterall.
She always leaves one post empty, though. It’s a reminder for any approaching heroes
about what their fate will be if they fail on their quest.
There’s no doubt that Baba Yaga casts a sinister shadow as she chases innocent children
through the forest with her enormous mortar and pestle. However, her motives throughout
her appearances in Russian folklore aren’t purely evil.
Baba Yaga is actually just as likely to be a horrid cannibal as to be a motherly protector…
sometimes in the same tale. The ambiguity of her morality is no accident, but rather
tied to her connection to femininity and the natural world.
In one story, a young princess, doomed to become Baba Yaga’s next meal, manages to
escape the witch’s chicken-leg house. As she flees from Baba Yaga, the princess uses
several magical items to create a mountain range, a forest, and a lake in an attempt
to slow the witch’s pursuit.
In this way, the monstrous behavior of Baba Yaga helps to create a new world. It’s this
duality that reflects the Russian culture’s perception of women. In these stories, women
are figures of both maternal love and seductive duplicity. Baba Yaga is both a mother and
a trickster, because these are the modes in which many men see women.
Arguably the most famous fairytale featuring Baba Yaga, and maybe even the most famous
Russian fairytale of all time, is Vasilisa the Beautiful.
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before:
A beautiful young girl lives with her wicked stepmother and her two ugly stepsisters. The
girl’s stepmother runs her ragged with impossible chores, which the beautiful maiden is able
to complete with the help of a magical friend given to her by her late mother.
Things deviate from the classic setup when Vasilisa becomes old enough to marry. To remove
the competition for her daughters, Vasilisa’s stepmother sends her into the forest to fetch
fire from Baba Yaga.
Vasilisa makes her way to the witch’s chicken-leg house, guided by her magical doll, and shortly
after arriving is captured by Baba Yaga. She's forced to complete even more impossible chores
to satisfy the witch’s desires, earn the fire, and save her own life.
She’s aided by her doll who helps her complete several of the crone’s tasks. When Baba
Yaga sees what Vasilisa has accomplished, she's forced to give the young girl the fire,
contained within a skull, and set her free.
Vasilisa brings the fire back to her stepmother and stepsisters, who are turned to ash upon
coming in contact with it. She then buries the skull so it will never hurt anyone again.
Free from the oppression of her evil stepmother, Vasilisa becomes a clothmaker whose skill
is so renowned it garners the attention of the Tsar. When the two meet, they fall in
love.
And like any good fairytale, they marry and live happily ever after.
The story of Vasilisa and her journey to claim fire from Baba Yaga is notable for more than
just the strange happenings within the witch’s house. Things like invisible hands doing the
bidding of Baba Yaga and the constant threat of being eaten are certainly important elements
of the story. But it’s other smaller characters that provide hints into the true power of
this ancient Russian witch.
Throughout the story of Vasilisa the Beautiful, the young girl at the center of it all sees
three riders that she encounters multiple times. One is clad in all white, and rides
a white horse. Immediately following him comes a rider in red, sitting upon a blood-red horse.
Then, as night falls, a rider in black gallops by on a black horse.
After successfully completing the chores set out for her, Baba Yaga asks if Vasilisa has
any questions. Curious to the nature of these visitors, she asks the witch who they are.
Baba Yaga explains that the rider in white is the day, the rider in red is the sun, and
the rider in black is the night. They are all her servants. The fact that Baba Yaga
considers day and night, and even the sun itself her servants should give you a hint
at just how powerful she truly is.
Some stories about Baba Yaga mention strange traits about the powerful witch that stick
with you. One such folktale is called Baba Yaga and the Brave Youth.
The story involves a young boy who lives with a cat and a sparrow. Each day the animals
head into the forest to cut wood, as cats and sparrows are known to do. They leave the
boy behind with a warning: If Baba Yaga comes to count spoons, hide and don’t say a word.
As you would expect, Baba Yaga comes to count spoons. On each visit, the brave youth can’t
help but speak out. The first two times, the cat and the sparrow manage to chase off the
witch. But the third time, the boy is captured and taken to Baba Yaga’s hut so she can
eat him.
The story doesn’t end there, though. Because, Baba Yaga has three daughters who she commands
to cook the boy. Unfortunately for the siblings, they’re tricked. By acting like he doesn’t
know how to lie in a pan and other deceptions, Baba Yaga’s daughters are fooled by the
boy and end up cooking themselves. He manages to play the same trick again on Baba Yaga
herself. After she dies, the boy is free of her power, and he bravely runs home.
"Damn that boy. He's tricked us again!"
I guess Baba Yaga and her family prefer to eat out.
Though Baba Yaga is a terrifying figure in Russian folklore, she’s not the only villain
lurking in the frigid forests of Siberia. Another menacing figure that makes appearances
in these stories is Koshchei the Deathless. Koshchei, as his name suggests, can’t die.
He possesses the power of immortality because his soul is hidden like a nesting doll inside
many animals. Though we don't want to know what a duck, inside a rabbit, inside a goat
would even look like.
One story that involves both Koshchei and Baba Yaga is the classic Maria Moryevna. In
this story, a prince named Ivan falls in love and marries the warrior princess Maria Moryevna.
But in his pursuit of her favor, he accidentally frees Koshchei, who she has chained up in
her basement.
Koshchei subsequently kidnaps Maria, and Ivan sets out on a quest to save her. However,
he’s killed by the immortal warrior before he can rescue his love, and his body is thrown
out to sea in a barrel. Fortunately for the prince, his brothers-in-law are powerful wizards
who bring him back to life. They inform him that the only way to defeat Koshchei is by
catching up to him with a horse from Baba Yaga.
Apparently, Baba Yaga breeds horses which are so fast they can circle the globe in a
day. Ivan goes to the witch, who of course requires him to complete a series of tasks.
Luckily, Ivan is up to the challenge. He succeeds in everything that she throws his way, and
in the end, earns his horse. He uses it to catch up to Koshchei, burns him to ashes,
and returns home safely with Maria.
The swan goose is a type of waterfowl native to Russia, China, and Mongolia. They are also
powerful magical servants of the witch, Baba Yaga. While you don't always see them in stories
involving her, swan geese play a crucial role in the folktale called, appropriately enough,
The Magical Swan Geese.
In this story, a careless young girl loses track of her younger brother. She learns from
a talking oven, tree, … and a river of milk that he was carried away by Baba Yaga’s
magical swan geese. She eventually locates her brother inside… you guessed it: Baba
Yaga’s chicken-leg house. The witch offers to return the boy if the young girl can complete
the task of spinning flax.
As she attempts the witch’s challenge, a mouse warns the girl that Baba Yaga plans
on steaming the children to death in her bath house. Then she’ll eat them, and ride away
on their bones. The mouse offers to help, and together they escape, only to be pursued
by the magical swan geese. The talking oven, tree, and river of milk return and help the
children make it home safely.
Even for a Baba Yaga story, this one is weird.
One explanation for why Baba Yaga seems to change from benevolent to cruel between stories,
or return even after dying, is that there is more than one. It’s possible that Baba
Yaga is more a type of witch, rather than a single being. This idea is supported in
several stories where there are multiple witches, as in the folktale The Maiden Tsar.
In this strange tale, a merchant’s son, Ivan, falls in love with the maiden tsar,
only to be separated from her by the boy’s tutor and stepmother. Ivan seeks his beloved
in the thrice tenth kingdom beyond the thrice nine lands. On his journey, he stops for directions
at a familiar chicken-leg house.
This Baba Yaga doesn’t know the way, but beckons him to ask her sister. The second
Baba Yaga doesn’t know either, and once again sends him to another sister. The third
Baba Yaga tries to eat Ivan, but he manages to escape on a firebird’s back. Bet you
didn't see that coming.
Ultimately, Ivan finds his love hidden in an egg, and as you hopefully expected, it
has a happy ending. Check out one of our newest videos right here!
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