Baba Yaga

Origin and tradition

Baba Yaga is the forest-dwelling old woman of Slavic folktales, often associated with a hut on chicken legs. She may threaten a visitor, test a hero, or offer help. That ambiguity makes her more than a simple villain and is central to many of her stories.

Illustration in this atlas

An old woman, often with an iron-toothed or bony appearance; her chicken-legged hut is an equally recognizable motif.

References and further reading

1. britannica.com — Baba-Yaga

These references offer further reading. Accounts and depictions vary; the atlas illustration is interpretive artwork, rather than historical or scientific evidence.