In one story known as Vasilisa the Beautiful, Vasilisa is a Cinderella-type character with a magical doll, whose mother died and father remarried a horrible woman with equally unkind daughters. ( Public domain ) Baba Yaga in the Tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful Illustration of Baba Yaga from 1925 by Ivan Malyutin. The eerie and unpredictable nature of Baba Yaga only adds to the gripping mystery of her character, making her encounters with Slavic heroes all the more thrilling and unpredictable. Yet, regardless of her questionable ethics, she remains true to her word and keeps whatever promise she makes to the hero who triumphantly completes her assigned tasks. While it seems that Baba Yaga never initiates any confrontations, as she only reacts when someone ventures to her hut, her moral compass appears to be all but absent. It is the characterization of Baba Yaga that contributes to much of the ambiguity surrounding her, as she oscillates between assuming the role of a benefactor and a villain, either aiding or obstructing the heroes of Slavic folklore. The majority of well-known narratives featuring Baba Yaga revolve around the heroes who cross her path, rather than her own personal exploits. Despite an ambitious appetite, however, Baba Yaga is always portrayed as skinny and bony, with her own epithet of “the bony one.”īenefactor or Villain? The Ambiguous Character of Baba Yaga The stove is another common detail included in tales of the Baba Yaga, as the location where her victims are cooked and eaten. The enormous stove is described as reaching from one side of the hut to the other, subtly emphasizing her size and magical powers. Tales about Baba Yaga usually recount that heroes daring to enter her humble abode would find her draped across her cooking stove. To make the story even more eerie, legend has it that her hut was surrounded by a fence made of human bones and stood on magical chicken legs, with a rooster's head on top. Stories about the Baba Yaga abound, with most of them taking place within her hut located deep in the woods. Baba Yaga is commonly illustrated as riding around on a mortar rather than a broom, wielding a pestle as both a flying aid and a wand. The most common portrayal of Baba Yaga is as either one old woman or a trio of old sisters, all of whom are depicted as skinny, with iron teeth and noses so long that they touch the ceiling when they sleep. ( Public domain ) Depictions of the Mythical Baba Yaga “She's a shamanic trickster, a category and boundary-crosser, a that freedom lies a little beyond the border of social norms, and that we can learn as much from the dark as the light.”īaba Yaga in her mortar, by Ivan Bilibin. “The essence of Baba Yaga exists in many cultures and many stories, and symbolizes the unpredictable and untamable nature of the female spirit, of Mother Earth, and the relationship of women to the wild,” explained Ryan, the editor of the collection, in an interview with the BBC. Modern day interpretations, such as Into the Forest: Tales of the Baba Yaga, have emphasized her role as a possible “proto- feminist icon. The story of Baba Yaga was first recorded in writing in 1755, though legends about her appeared far earlier and can be evidenced in artworks from at least the 17th century. Domovoi: Stay on the Good Side of This Mischievous Slavic House Sprite.A Freaky Fairy Tale of Ancient Folklore: Vasilisa the Beautiful and Baba Yaga.Though the origins of her name are as unclear as her purpose tends to be, it is believed that baba means something akin to “old woman” or “grandmother,” while the meaning yaga is said to mean anything from “snake” to “wicked.” Regardless, even Baba Yaga’s name emphasizes the strangeness of her person, making her an interesting character to decipher. An alternative wicked witch from Russian and Slavic legends, Baba Yaga is depicted as flying through the forest within a giant mortar and pestle.
Numerous renditions of her tale portray her as a harbinger of transformation, possessing the power to either assist or obstruct those who she chances upon, and eating those who fail to satisfy her demands. In Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga is both a maternal, mother nature figure and an evil villain who kidnaps and eats children. As ambiguous as she is hideous, Baba Yaga is an anomaly.
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