History of Baba Yaga

The Baba Yaga originates from Russian and East Slavic folklore as a monster. This type of monster is depicted as an old lady, referred to as a witch in most tellings, who has magical powers and seeks out children in order to capture and potentially eat them. There have been different spins on this monster's folklore, such as the fact that the Baba Yaga has powers over animals, the elements (such as earth, fire, air, and water), and time. There's also the tale that she is perceived as more of a goddess versus a witch (Zarka, 2021).

History of Baba Yaga: Text

History of Baba Yaga: Video

There are many different varieties for Baba Yaga, including the concept that this monster may not have been as bad of a monster as anticipated. For example, "[t]he discussion of scholarship about Baba Yaga is followed by a comparison of her to witches in other folklore traditions. To comparison leads Johns to conclude that, while there are many related figures, Baba Yaga is unique and peculiar to the East Slavic world" (Kononenko, 2005, 204-205). Kononenko goes further into expressing that Baba Yaga can be helpful to people at times, which gives a lot of dimension to her as a monster.

The folklore surrounding Baba Yaga also has been analyzed by being a potential commentary on the modernization of the Soviets. There was a story of a little girl who outsmarted the Baba Yaga by leaving a trail of bread crumbs ("Russian Fairy Tale", 1948, 188). This story was somewhat replicated in a story told within the video "Baba Yaga: The Ancient Origins of the Famous 'Witch' I Monstrum".

The range of Baba Yaga is a good representation of the possible functions of the Baba Yaga as folklore. And folklore function can be defined as "[t]he four functions Bascom suggests folklore provides—informally teaching cultural attitudes (often to younger group members); escaping accepted limitations of our culture; maintaining cultural identity, and validating existing cultural norms— essentially boil down to one function, as Bascom himself claims: 'Folklore is an important mechanism for maintaining the stability of culture' (1965, 298) (Sims and Stephens, 181)". The changes and diversity in the folklore of the Baba Yaga show how there are multiple versions of the story because it shows the cultural values of that group at that time.

History of Baba Yaga: Text

History of Baba Yaga

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