The idea of an evil witch is not an original idea seen only in the Disney presentation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Each culture has their own antagonist and evil witch. Russia and Eastern Europe’s witch is known as баба Яга or Baba Yaga. She is depicted as a very old and very unattractive woman with missing teeth, warts and a very large nose. Baba Yaga is thought to be a spinster and given her living conditions gives reason as to why she is so unattractive.
Baba Yaga lives on the edge of the forest in an old wooden cabin that she entices children into by saying “turn your back to the forest and your front to me”, revealing the otherwise hidden door to her house allowing her to snatch up small children. Her house walks on chicken legs and can fly around.
Baba Yaga is a scary folk tale in many Eastern European countries and she goes by many different names like Baba Yaga in Russian, Baba Jaga in Polish and Baba Roga/Ruta in Macedonian, Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian. The word “baba” comes from the Slavic word for “grandmother” or “old woman” and the word “yaga” has two possible origins; the first coming from a Slavic version of a German word “Jadwiga” which Yaga is a feminine diminutive version of that name. The second possible origin is the Russian verb yagat meaning to abuse or find fault. Her character is evident through the meanings of the words alone.
Baba Yaga has been featured in many Russian films and cartoons throughout history. She was also in a modern day episode of Scooby Doo, showing American children the story as well. Baba Yaga is a huge influence in Russian culture from movies as entertainment to stories as warning a to young children. Next time you are in a forest alone, keep the story of Baba Yaga in mind and don’t follow an old woman into her cabin.
RUSSIAN CULTURE BLOG 
I’m glad that someone decided to blog about Baba Yaga! She is truly a ‘posterchild’ for an evil witch in a fairy tale! Not only is she hideous, but she is greedy and cannibalistic and all around horrible. One thing that strikes interests in me about Baba Yaga is that in such a patriarchal country as Russia, the most feared and horrible fairytale villain is a powerful woman! I think that because Baba Yaga is a women it further enforces more traditional family values for the Russian audience that reads the fairytales that she is in. To me it kind of alludes to the idea that if a woman is as forceful and tactical as Baba Yaga, that is is not a good thing. And I think that Baba Yaga helps positively reinforce traditional roles that women tend to take in Russia, and I think that many fairytales, including Germanic and English ones often do the same thing, it is almost always the evil-stepmother who calls the shots!
The photo itself is really creepy enough. But an old woman with a flying house is actually downright scary. To be honest, it seems scarier than most American urban legends, especially for a little kid. She does seem to be a figure i can connect to other folklore, however. She seems much like the witch from the Grimm fairytale Hansel and Gretel in that she entices children into her house in order to eat them. It makes me wonder whether the Grimm Brothers drew inspiration from Baba Yaga, and if they drew inspiration for their other stories from Slavic folklore.
I’ve always found it really interesting that so many cultures have these kind of tales, from the Japanese Onibaba to the wicked witches we’re used to here from American and English fairy tales. It’s always enjoyable to see how each culture puts its own spin on the story of the wicked old woman.