Baba-Yaga was a witch in Slavic folklore who would fly around on a giant mortar/silver birch broomstick. She was famous for kidnapping and (most likely) eating small children. The witch lived in a walking house on chicken legs. Some people have been known to seek her out for wisdom. However, while from time to time she has been known to offer guidance to lost souls (as in the tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful), it was not common. Some stories say she is an enemy of Ded Moroz (the Russian Santa Claus).
Alias Baba Yaga
Real Names/Alt Names Baba Yaga/Baba Jaga/Jaga Baba/Baba Roga/Baba Cloanţa
Appearance List Russian lubok prints (late 18th–early 19th century) — first visual tradition of Baba Yaga, woodcut style; Russian Fairy Tales (Narodnye russkie skazki) by Alexander Afanasyev (1855–1863); Russian Folk-Tales (1873) by W. R. S. Ralston; The Red Fairy Book (1890) by Andrew Lang [Internet Archive]; Vasilisa the Beautiful installment of Skazki (1899) by Aleksandr Afanasyev illustrated by Ivan Bilibin.
Description Baba-Yaga was a witch in Slavic folklore who would fly around on a giant mortar/silver birch broomstick. She was famous for kidnapping and (most likely) eating small children. The witch lived in a walking house on chicken legs. Some people have been known to seek her out for wisdom. However, while from time to time she has been known to offer guidance to lost souls (as in the tale of Vasilisa the Beautiful), it was not common. Some stories say she is an enemy of Ded Moroz (the Russian Santa Claus).
