A Common World Literature Mistake You Are Probably Making Now With Russian Fairy Tales Part 1

Baba Yaga

The figure of the witch in Slavic fairy tales is often called Baba Yaga. She is often described as having bony legs, a voracious appetite for humans, and a long, curled nose. She is said to fly

from place to place using a mortar and pestle, and is said to live in a small cottage raised up on chicken legs. In some stories Baba Yaga is an evil, threatening character, as in Vasillisa the Beautiful, in others she plays a helpful role, as in Fenist the Bright Falcon.

Baba Yaga is the old crone who is both wise and cruel, who lives in a house standing on chicken legs, and whose servants bring with them the day, sunset and the night.

In many stories she is threatening, and in some she even does harm to certain characters. However, she and her sisters very often come to the aid of the needy, such as in Fenist the Bright Falcon.

Baba-Yaga

BABA YAGA

SOMEWHERE, I cannot tell you exactly where, but certainly in vast Russia, there lived a peasant with his wife and they had twins — a son and daughter. One day the wife died and the husband mourned over her very sincerely for a long time. One year passed, and two years, and even longer. But there is no order in a house without a woman, and a day came when the man thought, “If I marry again possibly it would turn out all right.” And so he did, and had children by his second wife.