Dernière modification le 26/09/2026.
A famous figure from Slavic mythology, Baba Yaga is a witch who travels in a mortar.
Introduction
Originating in Eastern Europe, Baba Yaga (Баба-яга) is the most famous Russian witch. She lives in the heart of the forest; she is a frightening witch who, according to stories, is either a formidable enemy or—despite her appearance—a valuable ally. Her popularity has spread beyond the Slavic countries, making her one of the best-known legendary witches.
Her name comes from “babushka,” a diminutive of “baba,” meaning “grandmother,” and “yaga,” whose origin is uncertain but which might mean “snake” (because she has only one leg).
Description
An old woman with only one leg, she is hideous and a cannibal who devours anyone who dares to venture onto her territory, especially the children she kidnaps. For this reason, she is sometimes called an ogress.
She is terrible and feared; all the animals in the forest obey her, and humans are terrified just by the mention of her name. She takes pleasure in provoking them by not wearing a scarf, which was considered scandalous among Russian peasants.
Baba Yaga’s Mortar
To get around, she uses a flying mortar (a bowl for grinding ingredients into powder) and uses a pestle as a paddle. To prevent anyone from following her and finding her, she erases her tracks as she goes. She also causes thunderstorms wherever she goes.
Baba Yaga’s House
The witch’s house is just like her: terrifying. The skulls of her victims are perched on her fence, warning those who approach of the place they are entering. Her isba, a small traditional wooden house, is perched on chicken or raven legs. It has no windows and spins endlessly around its own axis. The door is no ordinary door either; it opens only when you say the incantation, “Little isba, turn your back to the forest and your face toward me.”
“At the edge of a dark forest, he spotted a little isba standing on chicken legs: ‘Little isba, little isba! Turn your back to the forest, with the front facing me.’ The isba turned around[10]. ”
— The Tale of the Water of Youth and the King’s Daughter.
Baba Yaga’s Victims or Protégés
She’s a rather ambiguous character because, while she can be the story’s villain—the terrifying figure—she is sometimes the opposite and offers her help.
The Wicked Witch or the Warrior
When she is the antagonist, her favorite victims are children, as in most fairy tales. So either she sends her geese to capture them, or she kidnaps those who get lost in the forest. In one story, after she had managed to kidnap a young boy, his sister—with the help of an apple tree, a stove, and a river—managed to rescue him.
Although she is described as a witch, she can take on a warrior-like appearance, as in the tale *Baba Yaga and Little Bout*. In that story, she can be seen grabbing her shield of fire and attacking, burning everything in her path. In *Ivan Tsarevich and the White Warrior of the Plain*, she is depicted leading an army.
In other stories, Baba Yaga isn’t entirely a wicked witch, because she helps the hero of the story by taking him into her home and giving him advice or a magical object. For behind her appearance and the terror she can inspire, it is sometimes said that she possesses universal knowledge and can also be generous toward those who show courage. This is what she does with Vasilisa, a young girl sent by her stepmother to fetch fire. Although she takes her into her service and gives her difficult tasks to complete, she helps her at the same time.
References
Literature: Baba Yaga (R. Celli), Baba Yaga (G. Elschner, A. Blanz)
Comic Book: Babayaga (T-M. Le Tanh, R. Dautremer)
Comics: Hellboy (M. Mignola)
Animation: Father Beaver, Episode 88 (J. Cubaud, P. Moreau, G. Bailey), Scooby-Doo: Related Mysteries (S. Brandt, T. Cervone)
Opera: Baba Yaga (J. Fogarty), Fables (B. Willingham)
Role-playing games: Dungeons & Dragons: Curse of Strahd (Wizards of the Coast), Pathfinder: Winter’s Dream (Black Book), Call of Cthulhu (Chaosium)
Video Games: Cabal Online (ESTsoft Corp), Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics), SMITE and SMITE 2 (Titan Forge), Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (Konami)
External links (fr): Fairies and Witches, Magicians and Enchanters (BnF), Fairy Tales to Read or Listen To (Il était une histoire), Horsemen and Old Russia: Fairytale Figures in Kandinsky’s Work (Centre Pompidou)
External link (en): The greatest ‘wicked witch’ of all? (BBC)
Image: Wikimedia Commons
