Baba Yaga: The Ambiguous Mother and Witch of the Russian Folktale

International Folkloristics #3

by Andreas Johns

Baba Yaga is a well-known witch from the folklore tradition of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. A fascinating and colorful character, she resembles witches of other traditions but is in many ways unique. Living in the forest in a hut that stands and moves on chicken legs, she travels in a mortar with a pestle and sweeps away her tracks with a broom. In some tales she tries to harm the protagonist, while in others she is helpful. This book investigates the image and ambiguity of Baba Yaga in detail and considers the meanings she has for East Slavic culture. Providing a broad survey of folktales and other sources, it is the most thorough study of Baba Yaga yet published and will be of interest to students of anthropology, comparative literature, folklore, and Slavic and East European studies.

Genres: Folklore, Nonfiction, Witchcraft, Russia, Witches, Folk Tales, Spirituality

356 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2004

Reviews

[Nightshade · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an incredibly comprehensive book on the folklore of Baba Yaga. It explores the folktales in whch Baba Yaga appears as Donor, Ambiguous Donor, and Villain. The study is an extensive look at the meaning of Baba Yaga within tales- but focuses largely on psychological, and socio-culural meanings. While mythological approaches are examined and the possibility of her being demonic forest spirit, or mother goddess are mentioned in the early chapters- Baba Yaga's origins are simply too obscure to draw any solid conclusions. I enjoyed the text, but often found the overt psychologization of the Yaga to be a bit heavy-handed-(much is written about the phallic mother, oedipal complexes and archetypal meanings within this book). While these are certainly all valid, as are marxist aproaches- as a Witch, I tend toward the more mysterious... Johns mentions briefly that Baba Yaga is often treated as an "other"- and that is where I believe the deeper, hidden meanings begin.

Perhaps I am a little biased, as Baba Yaga has been in my life for a long time, always spinning her threads deeper and deeper into my roots, and perhaps the fact that as an animistic witch when I see tales with animals in them my heart does a little skip and a jump, and when I see such an "othered" being as Baba Yaga within these tales I am always looking at the Spirit world, the Underworld, the "Other"world. Much of the meanings applied to the supernatural nature of Baba Yaga are explained in symbolic terms. I understand why an author of folklore would focus on psychology, Marxism, and even take a look at the gendered view of Baba Yaga within Patriarchal culture, as all of these explorations add different layers to the study. But I also don't think it is possible as an animist for me to only look at that- even when studying mythology, and even during my own myth-making process, while I tend toward a queer, feminist viewpoint- animism, witchcraft, and the realities of the spirit world and the gods, are deeply important to me.
As an academic text I believe this book is invaluable- and if you are into Baba Yaga, folklore, and Russian/Slavic history and culture, I highly recommend this book.

As a witch, I would also suggest reading between the lines, reading the folktales themselves (this book contains a few at the back), and perhaps -if you dare- even to seek out The Yaga yourself.
"A beautiful inheritance from the past, a cultural treasure, the folktale is a complex, many-sided phenonemon. Its multiple aspects and potential meanings seem inexhaustible. The same is true of its characters: Reborn every time a tale is told or read, they are never finished and complete. As a unique creation of human imagination and verbal art, Baba Yaga defies any single or simple definiton or interpretation, and no final, definitive word can ever be said about her. "- Andreas Johns (From the Conclusion)

[zmorowisko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Czytałam po raz drugi i znów znalazłam masę wspaniałych treści. Jeżeli ktoś chce spróbować zrozumieć, kim jest Baba Jaga, to jest najlepsza książka!

[Dave Summers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Utterly thorough survey of the Russian folk tale mainstay : Baba Yaga. Is she good? Is she bad? Does she serve or undermine the hero/heroine? It depends! Marvelously ambiguous, indeed and uniquely Russian/Eastern Slavic. Recommended.

[Acanthus Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once there lived an old man and woman, they had a daughter who was playing with her friends one Friday in Winter when she got lost. She wandered for a long time before eventually coming to a hut on the edge of a forest.

"Hut, hut, turn your front to me, stand with your back to the forest," she says.

The hut turns around on huge boney chicken legs and the child enters. Cramped inside is Baba Yaga who fills up all the little crevices of the room with her grotesque body: her nose sticks up into the ceiling, her face is of clay, one leg is of iron, her breasts hang over a rod, she sweeps the oven with her tongue and appears to be partially blind.

Baba Yaga sniffs the air, "Fu Fu! It smells of Russian scent. Never before have I smelt Russian in these parts."

~

Then the tale takes various directions: sometimes the child is given a deadly errand or impossible task (like spinning) to fulfill, sometimes Baba shows cannibalistic intent and is tricked into climbing into her own stove, sometimes she is an evil witch who physically attacks the child there and then, and sometimes she functions as a donor and gifts the child a magical item.

An ambiguous lady. What role does such a character play in the folkloric imagination, perhaps she helps children grapple with the fear of strangers? Perhaps she helps the child reach adolescence? Perhaps also there are echoes of deep mythic or ritual roots?

This book surveys and comments upon some 400 texts from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, all of which feature, to a greater or lesser extent, the character of Baba Yaga.

[Bobbie Kinkead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting - only cast Baba Yaga as a weird and evil; I see Baba Yaga as the old aunt and healer. Use this book as a resource. Read my PURSUED, the Frog Princess when I finish the book and shows on my author page on Goodreads.

[H. T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic comprehensive study of Baba Yaga folktales from Eastern Europe.