How international artists imagine Russia’s iconic Baba Yaga witch (PICS) illustration by Dana Alink, 2015 This most ancient of Russian evils can go from looking like an attractive femme fatale to a full-blown ghastly creature. Let’s take a look at how Baba Yaga has been imagined by artists from around the world.
An old crooked hag with a big nose and a club foot, who lives in a house on chicken legs deep in the woods and uses a mortar and pestle to fly - this is, perhaps, the most common image everyone has of Baba Yaga, the witch we encounter in a number of Russian tales. In reality, a lot of the time, Baba Yaga takes on the role of a helper. She frequently aids the tale’s protagonist with advice on how to defeat an evil force, or she might hand them a magical object to help in their task, or a ball of yarn to help them find their way out of the woods and other things.