Baba Jaga (#136)

Every now and then I talk about Greek mythology (e.g. in fact #90, fact #109 and fact #116), but there are so many other mythologies worth exploring.

A character I like a lot from the Slavic mythology is Baba Jaga. She is described in different ways and has an ambiguous personality. Usually she lives in the forest, in a hut, which stands on chicken legs. The hut has no entrance and only a certain word makes the house turn around and show the door. In some tales she can fly around in a mortar (de: Mörser), which she steers with the pestle (de: Stößel). Oftentimes she is described with ferocious traits for example a cannibalistic preference. But she’s not only bad, she can also help those who seek her out. Similar characters are also known in Japanese mythology, like Yama-uba.

Baba Jaga is sometimes called “the iron-toothed” or “the bony legged”. Do you know how these kind of additional attributes are called? I’ll tell you tomorrow.