Baba Yaga

In Russian folk lore, there are many stories of Baba Yaga. Sometimes she is shown as a kind old woman, but usually the Baba Yaga is wicked. An old, ugly crone, she is emaciated like a skeleton. Sometimes she is called Baba-Yaga Bony Leg. Her nose and teeth are long and sharp. She has iron teeth for eating children. Russian parents tell their children that Baba Yaga eats only children who misbehave. Other common elements of a Baba Yaga story are that she is usually shown living in the forest, riding in a mortar, rowing herself along with a pestle and brushing her traces away with a broom. Her hut stands on hens legs, in some stories two and other stories four, which allow the hut to move about. The fence and gates of her house are built of human bones, along the top of which are stuck human skulls with glaring eyes. Though Baba Yaga is Russian, elements of the Baba Yaga stories can found in folklore from other parts of the world.