Baba Yaga

E757347

Baba Yaga is a fearsome witch-like figure from Slavic folklore, known for living in a hut on chicken legs and embodying both dangerous and protective supernatural powers.

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Observed surface forms (2)

Statements (65)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Slavic folklore character
folklore character
mythological figure
witch
alignment ambivalent
appearance often depicted as bony-legged
often depicted as ugly
old woman
appearsIn Afanasy Afanasyev’s folklore collections
Alexander Pushkin’s works NERFINISHED
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera "Kashchey the Immortal" NERFINISHED
Russian fairy tales
associatedWith forest
liminal spaces
wilderness
category Slavic legendary creatures
female legendary creatures
witches in folklore
culture Belarusian
Czech
Polish
Russian
Slavic
Slovak
South Slavic NERFINISHED
Ukrainian
domain Slavic mythology NERFINISHED
dwelling hut on chicken legs
dwellingFeature hut can move and turn
hut often surrounded by a fence of human bones
hut stands on chicken legs
epithet fearsome witch-like figure
functionInTales gives magical gifts or advice
kidnaps or threatens children
tests the hero or heroine
gender female
influenced Modest Mussorgsky’s "Pictures at an Exhibition" movement "The Hut on Fowl’s Legs" NERFINISHED
comic books and graphic novels
contemporary films and television
modern fantasy literature
video games
languageOrigin Slavic languages NERFINISHED
nameComponentMeaning "Baba" can mean old woman or grandmother in Slavic languages
"Yaga" has uncertain etymology and may relate to horror or disease NERFINISHED
notableFeature lives in a hut on chicken legs
power control over life and death
dangerous supernatural powers
magic
protective supernatural powers
shape-shifting in some tales
relatedConcept crone archetype
witch archetype
role antagonist
helper
trickster
symbolism ambiguous morality
boundary between life and death
initiation and trials
nature’s wild and untamed forces
tool broom
pestle
transport mortar
transportFeature flies through the air in a mortar
sweeps away her tracks with a broom
uses a pestle as an oar

Referenced by (5)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Hellboy: The Chained Coffin and Others containsStory Baba Yaga
this entity surface form: The Baba Yaga
Slavic mythology hasSpirit Baba Yaga
Carroll Baker notableWork Baba Yaga
Viktor Hartmann notableWork Baba Yaga
this entity surface form: The Hut on Fowl's Legs (Baba Yaga) design
John Wick otherName Baba Yaga