View source for Baba Yaga

{{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}}
[[File:Сказка Баба-яга 3.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Baba Yaga depicted in ''Tales of the Russian People'' (published by V. A. Gatsuk in Moscow in 1894)]]
[[File:Baba_Yaga_by_Alexandre_Benois.jpg|alt=|thumb|upright|Baba Yaga being used as an example for the [[Cyrillic script|Cyrillic]] letter [[Be (Cyrillic)|Б]], in [[Alexandre Benois]]' ABC-Book]]

'''Baba Yaga''' is a female character (or one of a trio of sisters of the same name) from [[Slavic folklore]] who has two contrasting roles. In some narratives, she is described as a repulsive or ferocious-looking old woman who fries and eats children, while in others she is depicted as a nice old woman who helps 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 [[Mortar and pestle|mortar]], wielding a pestle, and dwelling deep in the forest in a [[hut]] with chicken legs. 

== Etymology ==

Variations of the name ''Baba Yaga'' are found in many [[Slavic languages]]. In [[Serbo-Croatian]], [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]], [[Romanian language|Romanian]] and [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]], ''baba'' means 'grandmother' or 'old woman'. In contemporary Polish and Russian, ''[[wikt:baba|baba]]'' / ''[[wikt:баба|баба]]'' is also a [[pejorative]] synonym for 'woman', in particular one who is old, dirty, or foolish. Andreas Johns speculates that ''"Baba"'' serves two linguistic purposes in the name: firstly, it adds a familiar component to the lesser-known word ''"yaga"'',  and secondly, it clarifies that the character is female.{{sfn|Johns|2004|p=9}}

The etymology of ''yaga'' is less clear, and there is no 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 include the Serbian and Croatian ''jeza'' ('horror', 'shudder', 'chill'), [[Slovene language|Slovene]] ''jeza'' ('anger'), [[Old Czech]] ''jězě'' ('witch', 'legendary evil female being'), modern Czech ''[[The Jezinkas|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 language|Lithuanian]] ''engti'' ('to abuse (continuously)', 'to belittle', 'to exploit'), [[Old English]] ''inca'' ('doubt', 'worry', 'pain'), and [[Old Norse]] ''ekki'' ('pain', 'worry').{{sfn|Johns|2004|p=10}}

== Attestations ==

[[File:Baba Yaga by I.Bilibin (priv.coll).jpg|thumb|Baba Yaga and her hut, by [[Ivan Bilibin]]]]
[[Vladimir Propp]] wrote that depictions of Baba Yaga taken from various fairy tales do not create a coherent image.<ref>*А.А. Орлова, Ю.С. Обидина, [https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/vizualizatsiya-sotsialnoy-satiry-v-rossii-xviii-veka-na-primere-obraza-baby-yagi/pdf 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</ref>

The first clear reference to Baba Yaga (''{{lang|ru|Iaga baba}}'') occurs in 1755 in [[Mikhail V. Lomonosov]]'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 [[Slavic mythology|Slavic gods]] and beings next to their [[interpretatio romana|presumed equivalents]] in [[Roman mythology]] (the Slavic god [[Perun]], for example, appears equated with the Roman god [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]]). 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 [[mortar and pestle|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.<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, [http://halkidon2006.orthodoxy.ru/Kultura_Iskusstvo/A_L_Toporkov_Otkuda_u_Baby-Yagi_stupa.htm "Откуда у Бабы-Яги ступа?"] ["Where Did Baba Yaga Get the Mortar?]</ref>

Baba Yaga often bears the [[epithet]] ''{{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}}

[[File:Bilibin. Baba Yaga.jpg|thumb|upright|Baba Yaga by [[Ivan Bilibin]], in ''Vasilisa the Beautiful'', 1900]]

Sometimes Baba Yaga is said to live in the [[Faraway Tsardom|Faraway or Thrice-ninth Tsardom]]: "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=[[Crowell-Collier Publishing Company|Crowell]]}}</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 [[Alexander Afanasyev]], Ivan, a handsome merchant's son, makes his way to the home of one of three Baba Yagas:{{sfn|Afanasyev|1973|p=231}}

{{Blockquote
|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=[[Alexander Afanasyev]]
|title="[[The Maiden Tsar]]"
|source=''[[Russian Fairy Tales]]'' (1973)
}}

[[File:Ivan Bilibin 036.jpeg|thumb|[[Ivan Bilibin]], 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=]]

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 ([[MOS:PLOTSOURCE]]) -->

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 (Slavic folklore)|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.<!-- no ref needed ([[MOS:PLOTSOURCE]]) -->

In Afanasyev's collection of tales, Baba Yaga also appears in "Baba Yaga and Zamoryshek", "By Command of the Prince Daniel", "[[Vasilisa the Beautiful]]", "[[Marya Morevna]]", {{ill|"Realms of Copper, Silver, and Gold"|fr|Les Trois Royaumes (conte)}}, "[[The Sea Tsar and Vasilisa the Wise]]", and "Legless Knight and Blind Knight" (English titles from Magnus's translation).{{sfn| Afanasyev|1916|pp=.xiii{{ndash}}xv}}

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, [[phallic mother]], or archetypal image".{{sfn|Johns|2004|p=9}}

== Depiction on ''lubki'' ==

[[File:Babayaga lubok.jpg|thumb|"Iaga Baba" fighting with "Crocodile"]]
[[File:Baba-Yaga Lubok1.jpg|thumb|A lubok of "Iaga Baba" dancing with a bald old man with [[bagpipes]]]]
Baba Yaga appears on a variety of ''{{lang|ru|[[lubok|lubki]]}}'' (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".  [[Dmitry Rovinsky]] interpreted this scene as a political [[parody]]. [[Peter the Great]] persecuted [[Old Believer]]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 [[Catherine I of Russia|Catherine I]], sometimes derisively referred to as the ''{{lang|ru|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.<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 [[Shamanism|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[s] 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}}

== Related figures and analogues ==

Ježibaba (see [[:cs:Ježibaba]]), a figure closely related to Baba Yaga, occurs in the folklore of the [[West Slavs|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.{{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}}

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 ''[[gorska maika]]'' (Горска майка', 'Forest Mother', also [[:bg:Горска майка|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]]''.{{sfn|Johns|2004|pages=68–84}}

Some scholars have proposed that the concept of Baba Yaga was influenced by East Slavic contact with [[Finno-Ugric peoples|Finno-Ugric]] and [[Siberian peoples]]. The "[[A Hut on Chicken Legs|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.{{sfn|Johns|2004|p=61}} The [[Karelians (Finns)|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 ''{{lang|olo|[[Maaemä|akka]]}}'' ('old woman').{{sfn|Johns|2004|pp=80–82}}

== In popular culture ==
<!--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.-->

* [[Modest Mussorgsky|Mussorgsky]]'s 1874 suite ''[[Pictures at an Exhibition]]'' has a [[movement (music)|movement]] titled "The Hut on Hen's Legs (Baba Yaga)". The [[Pictures at an Exhibition (Emerson, Lake & Palmer album)|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).<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>
* 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]].<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=[[The Guardian]] |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 [[shtetl]] in 1919, during a time of [[Russian Civil War|civil war]] and [[Pogroms during the Russian Civil War|pogroms]]."<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=[[NPR]] |access-date=29 September 2023 |date=8 October 2022}}</ref> 
* [[Sophie Anderson (author)|Sophie Anderson]]'s book ''[[The House With Chicken Legs]]'', 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=[[Junior Library Guild]] |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=[[Waterstones]] |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=[[The Guardian]] |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=[[The Guardian]] |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>[https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/33832945 "The House with Chicken Legs"], book review at [[Goodreads]].</ref><ref>[https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/sophie-anderson/the-house-with-chicken-legs/ "The House with Chicken Legs"], book review at [[Kirkus Reviews]].</ref>
* 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 [[The Babadook|of the same name]].<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=[[Rolling Stone]] | 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.
**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 {{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>{{Cite web|url=https://www.animator.ru/index.phtml?p=show_news&nid=856|title=Аниматор.ру &#124; Новости &#124; - всероссийская премьера полнометражного мультфильма "Б...|website=www.animator.ru}}</ref>
* The ''[[Scooby-Doo]]'' franchise has featured Baba Yaga in the episodes "[[The House of the Nightmare Witch]]" (''Mystery Incorporated'') and "[[Halloween (Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!)|Halloween]]" (''Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!'').<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Di Bartolomeo |first1=Lisa |title=Review: Baba Yaga: The Wild Witch of the East in Russian Fairy Tales |journal=Russian Language Journal |date=1 January 2014 |volume=64 |issue=1 |doi=10.70163/0036-0252.1130 |url=https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/rlj/vol64/iss1/14/ |issn=2831-9737|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Lê |first1=Paul |title=10 'Scooby-Doo!' Episodes and Movies That Are Perfect for Halloween! |url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/editorials/3734941/10-scooby-doo-episodes-and-movies-that-are-perfect-for-halloween/ |website=bloody-disgusting.com |publisher=Bloody Disgusting |access-date=14 November 2025}}</ref>
* Baba Yaga is the main antagonist in the ''Baba Yaga: Temple of the Witch'' DLC for the 2015 video game ''[[Rise of the Tomb Raider]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/games/rise-of-the-tomb-raider-baba-yaga-the-temple-of-the-witch|title=Rise of the Tomb Raider – Baba Yaga: The Temple of the Witch|website=IGN|date=January 2016|access-date=25 June 2025}}</ref>
* "Baba Yaga" and "Bogeyman" are nicknames for [[Keanu Reeves]]'s character [[John Wick (character)|John Wick]].
* A 2025 ''[[Doctor Who]]'' audio spinoff from [[Big Finish Productions]] featured a story where the Doctor goes to look for Baba Yaga and meets Vasilisa the Beautiful.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bigfinish.com/releases/v/doctor-who-the-fugitive-doctor-most-wanted-2668|title=1. Doctor Who: The Fugitive Doctor: Most Wanted|website=Big Finish|date=January 2025|access-date=31 January 2025}}</ref>
* She appears as a playable character in the video game ''[[Smite (video game)|Smite]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Baba Yaga – Witch of the Woods |url=https://www.smitegame.com/gods/baba-yaga |access-date=18 April 2025 |website=Smite}}</ref>

== See also ==

{{div col begin}}

* [[Babay (Slavic folklore)|Babay]], a night spirit in Slavic folklore
* [[Child cannibalism]]
* [[Despoina]] / [[Persephone]]
* "[[Hansel and Gretel]]"
* [[Hecate]]
* [[Humbaba]], a Sumerian nature spirit
* [[Izanami]]
* "[[Mare's Head]]", a Ukrainian fairy tale
* [[Morana (goddess)]]
* [[The Morrígan]]
* "[[The Tale About Baba-Yaga]]"
* [[Yama-uba]], 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 |editor-link=Leonard Arthur Magnus|year=1916 |url=https://archive.org/details/russianfolktales00afan_0 |publisher=[[Routledge|Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co.]] }}
* {{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=[[Pantheon Books]] |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=[[American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages]] |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=[[Peter Lang (publisher) |Peter Lang]] |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=[[Tor.com]] |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}}

* [https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20221118-baba-yaga-the-greatest-wicked-witch-of-all Baba Yaga: The greatest 'wicked witch' of all?], BBC

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

[[Category:Baba Yaga| ]]
[[Category:Fairy tale stock characters]]
[[Category:Female characters in fairy tales]]
[[Category:Female legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Female literary villains]]
[[Category:Fictional characters introduced in 1755]]
[[Category:Fictional characters who use magic]]
[[Category:Mythological cannibals]]
[[Category:Russian folklore characters]]
[[Category:Slavic folklore characters]]
[[Category:Ukrainian fairy tales]]
[[Category:Ukrainian mythology]]
[[Category:Witchcraft in folklore and mythology]]
[[Category:Witchcraft in Ukraine]]
[[Category:Women in Russian mythology]]
[[Category:Ugliness]]
[[Category:Crones and hags]]
[[Category:Witchcraft in fairy tales]]