| Baba Yaga | |
| |
| Characters Adapted from Other Works | |
| First Appearance: | Slavic folklore (oral tradition) Rossiiskaia grammatika, Mikhail Lomonosov (1755, first written reference), Alexander Afanasyev (definitive anecdotes) |
| Nationality: | Russia |
| Occupation: | Witch |
| Appearing in: | |
| "Slue-Foot Sue and the Witch in the Woods" by Laura Frankos Fantasy Pastiche | |
| Type of Appearance: | Direct |
Baba Yaga is a supernatural being (usually portrayed as a witch) from Slavic folklore. She appears as a deformed and/or ferocious-looking woman (or one of a trio of sisters of the same name). She flies around in a mortar, wields a pestle, and dwells deep in the forest in a hut standing on chicken legs. Baba Yaga may help or hinder those that encounter or seek her out and may play a maternal role and has associations with forest wildlife. According to Vladimir Propp's folktale morphology, she commonly appears as either a donor, villain, or may be altogether ambiguous.
The earliest known written reference to Baba Yaga comes from Mikhail Lomonosov's Rossiiskaia grammatika ('Russian grammar') in 1755, with very little context. Alexander Afanasyev's multi-volume Narodnye russkie skazki (1855-1867) is the first written source for many of the definitive Baba Yaga tales, including "Vasilisa the Beautiful."
Baba Yaga in "Slue-Foot Sue and the Witch in the Woods"[]
Baba Yaga encountered Slue-foot Sue not long after she bounced to Russia.
Sue initially asked for Baba Yaga's help to get back to Texas. When Baba Yaga refused to help Sue, Sue offered to make it worth Baba Yaga's while. As she'd been bored of late, Baba Yaga agreed to a contest. If Sue won two out of three skirmishes, Baba Yaga would take her home. If Baba Yaga won, Sue would surrender her valuable. They then went to Baba Yaga's house on chicken legs, and Baba Yaga uttered an incantation that commanded the house to squat down and let them in.[1]
Baba Yaga won the first contest when she used a magic potion to shrink herself down to the size of a mouse. While Sue removed her bustle, she didn't change size enough to match Baba Yaga.
Sue won the next two matches. Baba Yaga produced a knife that could cut under its own power. However, Sue had on her person the original Bowie knife, which was so sharp that its shadow cleaved Baba Yaga's blade apart. Finally, Baba Yaga turned a staff into a snake, but Sue's pet snake Rat made short work of it.[2]
While Sue had won, Baba Yaga protested that it was too late to for her to show Sue the way to Texas. Sue agreed to help make dinner. However, when she was alone, a hedgehog approached her and told her that Baba Yaga meant to kill her. He also told her that she could use Baba Yaga's house to get home once the witch left. He further informed her that he was actually a prince named Dmitri Romanov.[3] She agreed to drop him in Kiev.[4]
When Baba Yaga left at midnight, Sue used the incantation, and the house headed for Kiev, and then Hell's Gate Gulch Ranch. People in Russia said that when Baba Yaga returned to find her house missing, her scream could be heard from Siberia to St. Petersburg.[5]
References[]
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