The image of Baba Yaga in fairy tales. Who is Baba Yaga? How Baba Yaga became a negative character, and what traditions are associated with her

22.04.2019

Project for junior schoolchildren, 4th grade “Baba Yaga - who is she?”

I. Introduction.
Almost every fairy tale There are such heroes as Baba Yaga, Koschey the Immortal, the evil stepmother and others. We wanted to find out: where did these heroes come from? For our research, we chose Baba Yaga, because this is the very first “horror story” that we encounter in life small man.
Baba Yaga is one of the most famous and mysterious creatures on earth. Most people consider her to be an ordinary evil witch. And recently we learned that some people call Baba Yaga an ancient Slavic goddess, mistress of the forest and animals.
We interviewed 20 classmates and 15 adults. The results are as follows:
to the question “Do you know anything about Baba Yaga?” answered “yes” - 34, “no” - 1
to the question “Is this one of your favorite fairy-tale characters?” answered “yes” - 14, “no” - 21
to the question “Did you learn about her from fairy tales? answered “yes” - 35, “no” - 0
to the question “Is she a witch?” answered “yes” - 30, “no” - 5
to the question “Is she a goddess?” answered “yes” - 5, “no” - 30
to the question “Would you like to know more about her?” answered “yes” - 25, “no” - 9.

We concluded that Baba Yaga is a favorite fairy-tale hero of children and adults, they learned about her from fairy tales, but whether she is a witch or a goddess, opinions differ. 86% of respondents believe that Baba Yaga is a witch. Everyone would like to know who she really is?
We were interested in the image of Baba Yaga, we wanted to understand this question: “Baba Yaga – a witch or a goddess?” That’s why the theme of our project is “Baba Yaga – who is she?”
Hence the goal of the work - to learn more about supposedly everything famous person, determine whether she is a witch or a goddess.
Research objectives:
conduct an analysis of the literature on the research problem;
conduct a survey of adults and students;
find out where Baba Yaga lived;
Using the example of fairy tales, trace the image of Baba Yaga;
who is Baba Yaga - do she have prototypes;
study the life of Baba Yaga;
study the trace that Baba Yaga left in literature;
refute or confirm hypotheses.
Research methods:
search for information;
survey;
analysis;
observation;
classification;
generalization.
We have developed an action plan:
conduct tests that will reveal the level of interest and awareness of children and adults;
find literature on the topic of interest (in your home library, school library, on the Internet);
research activities;
tell your classmates interesting information about Baba Yaga;
make a coloring book for the little ones.
Hypotheses:
Baba - Yaga-witch
Baba - Yaga goddess
Subject of research: information about Baba Yaga
this work has a great educational and practical orientation: a collection of materials has been prepared with information about Baba Yaga, a selection of poems, songs, drawings; A coloring book has been made for little ones.
II. Theoretical part.
2.1 About Baba Yaga in dictionaries
From dictionaries we learned the following about Baba Yaga:
Baba Yaga - (Yaga(s) Baba, Yagabikha, Yagabova, Yagaya, Yaginishna, Yagikha; Gvozdenzuba - Serbian; Jerzy Baba - Slovenian; Yaga Baba - Bulgarian, etc.) - a mysterious forest old woman, a big woman over witches.
Big Soviet encyclopedia: “A witch, sorceress, woman – a servant of the devil, allegedly possessing a supernatural ability to harm people and animals.” Right there: “God, a fantastic image of a powerful supernatural being, acting as an object of religious worship and faith”
Explanatory dictionary of the living Great Russian language by Vladimir Dahl: “A witch or vydyoma is a sorceress, sorceress, recognized, according to the superstition of the people, with evil spirits, a villain who has a tail.”
Small encyclopedic Dictionary Brockhaus and Efron: “God, an absolute being, not dependent on any causes, but the cause of everything that exists, characterized in most religions as a person acting according to goals and having a will, as the Creator and Provider of the universe, and in some as an impersonal principle, coinciding with the world."
Baba - the first part of the name shows that our heroine is very old. After all, our words “grandmother” and “grandfather” are intended to refer to people of the older generation who have grandchildren. Therefore, the first part of the name of the owner of the hut on chicken legs not only indicates that she is a woman, but also indicates her certain life experience.
Yaga - the second part of the name cannot be interpreted unambiguously. Some believe that our ancestors called a forest woman “yaga,” noting her quarrelsome character or special clothing.

2.2 Image Baba Yaga in folk tales
The most complete source of information about the life of Baba Yaga in the distant past is folk tales. You can see the list of Russian folk tales I studied in the bibliography of the research work.
From fairy tales we learned that Baba Yaga lives in a dense forest, in a hut on chicken legs. Fence around the hut human bones. There are skulls on the fence, a human leg instead of a bolt, and a mouth with sharp teeth instead of a lock. Outwardly, Baba Yaga is an ugly, hunched old woman with long shaggy unkempt hair, a long hooked nose, and one bone or gold leg. Baba Yaga is dressed in one shirt without a girdle. The eyes glow with red flashes. Baba Yaga has bony hands and sharp iron teeth.
Baba Yaga rides or flies through the air in an iron, stone or fire mortar, drives with a pestle or stick, and covers her tracks with a broom. During Baba Yaga's train, the winds howl, the earth groans, cattle roar, centuries-old trees crack and bend. Baba Yaga kidnaps and eats children, whom she throws into the oven with a shovel and roasts.
In other cases, Yaga looks more humane: she helps the good fellows who come to her hut with advice and gives them magical helpers on the way. Baba Yaga loves to make riddles and solve them. She senses the presence of a person and, upon meeting, exclaims: “that this smells of the Russian spirit.” She knows the language of animals and plants.
She is served by black cats, crows, and snakes.
So who is she? A kind helper or a terrible cannibal?
In general, information about Baba Yaga of those years is extremely contradictory. In the fairy-tale image of Baba Yaga, the qualities of a positive and negative character seem to be intertwined. And the fact that Baba Yaga is represented in different ways may also be connected with the ancient image of the Goddess.
2.3 The image of Baba Yaga in modern works
In addition to fairy tales, we also read modern works about Baba Yaga. List of things we studied modern fairy tales you can see in the bibliography of the research paper.
Times change, morals change. IN last years Baba Yaga’s character has softened: she almost doesn’t do nasty things anymore and doesn’t eat people at all. Yaga treats children with special sympathy. And she looks more like a village old woman than an evil witch. Her life also changed in better side. The skulls disappeared from the fence, the house became cleaner and more spacious. Yaga's hut now not only spins in one place - she has learned to run.
Out of habit, Yaga still uses a mortar, but increasingly prefers to fly on a broom. In a word, despite her natural lameness, Yaga tries to keep up with progress.
We learned a lot about Yaga from fairy tales. But to complete the image, the image of Baba Yaga is not enough. And then we invited our classmates to draw Baba Yaga. You can see some of our work. As part of the project, we have collected a coloring book for the little ones.
2.4 The image of Baba Yaga in scientific articles
Where can we find traces of Yaga’s divine origin? This was the most difficult part - reading science articles, understand these smart adults. Here we turned to the teacher and parents and mother for help.
Scientists have repeatedly tried to understand the image of Baba Yaga, who has lived for centuries. She is, as it were, triune, that is, one in three persons. She is the Warrior, the Giver, and the Thief. She is the Adviser and the Sovereign. And each of its hypostases corresponds to a certain age and function.
The first hypostasis (quality, role) of Baba Yaga is the Warrior, a young girl. She thinks about struggle and victory, the area of her universe is Heaven, that is, she is a Goddess. In fairy tales, she appears as a heroic maiden or daughter, niece of the old Baba Yaga (that is, the young Baba Yaga).
The second hypostasis of Baba Yaga is the Giver and Deliverer from trouble. It's already adult woman who has received certain life and magical experience, and has entered the time of childbirth and fertility (for the earth). Perhaps it reflected the image of the Great Goddess, the Mother Goddess, the creator of our world. She has three sons (snakes or giants) and 3 or 12 daughters. Her sphere of habitat is Earth. She is also a Goddess, but closer to people, their problems and aspirations. This image can be divided into several more: Yaga the Adviser (Yaga herself does nothing for the hero, but indicates who to turn to for help, for example, her older sister). Yaga-Guardian, Patroness (with the help of her magical assistants (geese, saucer, etc.) the hero’s adventures). She is the Mistress of natural phenomena, as well as birds and animals. Sometimes Baba Yaga is called Bereginya. Translated into modern language– Goddess of Ecology. It was Yaga, the guardian of the forest and animals, who took care of our nature for many centuries. Therefore, the dense forests parted before her and the mountains moved apart. Therefore, the great goddess was faithfully served by geese, swans, and wise ravens, and all living creatures, with the exception of humans.
And the third hypostasis of Baba Yaga is the Kidnapper. This is already an old woman, close to death, and therefore to the afterlife. She is already a master in witchcraft and magic, she can command the forces of nature, animals, forest creatures, and has power over them. And by kidnapping (to eat) young people and children, she seems to sacrifice them to herself in order to prolong her existence at least for a little while longer.
There is an interpretation according to which Baba Yaga is not an original Slavic character, but an alien one introduced into Russian culture. There is a version that the name Yaga comes from the word yogi, and she herself is from India. The following detail is typical: in Baba Yaga’s hut, three pairs of magic hands do everything homework. Perhaps she is served by the six-armed deity Shiva. It is no coincidence that Baba Yaga, like Indian yogis - hermits, lives away from people and leads a solitary lifestyle. In addition, her stupa is very reminiscent of sacred Indian structures, which are called stupas.
Other researchers claim that Baba Yaga moved to us from the North. Residents of the northern forests and reindeer herders often built huts on high poles so that wild animals could not climb into them and so that the houses would not be covered with snow. Hence the “hut on chicken legs.”
And there is an assumption that Baba Yaga is a creature of alien origin and arrived on earth from outer space. No wonder she can fly. In fairy tales and myths it is often mentioned that her stupa is made of iron. It is possible that this is not a stupa, but one of the steps of a multi-stage spaceship. But no matter where Baba Yaga came from - from India, from the North or from space - it was in Rus' that she settled many centuries ago.
2.5 Life of Baba Yaga in art
The image of Baba Yaga has inspired poets and composers for a long time. The first poems dedicated to Yaga belonged to A.S. Pushkin, who wrote in “Ruslan and Lyudmila”:
There, on unknown paths,
Traces of unseen beasts.
There's a hut there on chicken legs
It stands without windows, without doors...
There is a stupa with Baba Yaga
She walks and wanders by herself...
Great composer M.P. Mussorgsky, having written “pictures from an exhibition,” called one of the plays “Baba Yaga.”
In cinema and television, this juicy character is also not ignored. The main Baba Yaga Soviet Union there was, of course, Georgy Millyar (1903-1993). “In 16 fairy tales, Row Millyar played 30 roles, that is, in each fairy tale he had two or three characters. And the crowning glory, of course, was the role of Baba Yaga, for which many auditioned famous actresses: “Fire, water and... copper pipes" - Vera Altaiskaya, "New Year's Adventures of Masha and Viti" the role of Baba Yaga was played by Valentina Kosobutskaya, in the film "The Book of Masters" the role of Baba Yaga was played by Liya Akhedzhakova. And, of course, you can’t do without the wonderful hedgehog grandmothers from the cartoon “The Flying Ship.”
The people composed many songs, ditties, and poems about Baba Yaga.
There are few teasers related to Baba Yaga. And this is quite understandable: Yaga could simply eat their writers and performers. Whether this is true or not, teasing a lonely elderly woman is still not a very nice thing.
Not a single Russian woman has had as many works dedicated to her as Baba Yaga. There is only one explanation for this: Baba Yaga has a character: bright, original, ambiguous.
When she was once asked: “How do you feel about the fact that you left a big mark in art?”, Baba Yaga replied: “In my opinion, my hut left a big mark...”. And she pointed to a chicken paw print. However, you can’t deny Yaga’s sense of humor!
III. Practical part.
3.1 Creation of Baba Yaga's passport
In order to record everything that we learned about heroin in the works we read, we developed a form for recording information about Baba Yaga. This form is called “Passport of Baba Yaga”.
The passport includes the following items:
Where does he live?
The work is indicated here
How does he move?
How Yaga moves in the work
What does it look like?
Appearance
Age
How many years
Character
What is Yaga's character in this work?
Means of Witchcraft
What does Yaga use to cast a spell?
Good deeds
What good deeds does she do in this fairy tale?
Evil deeds
What evil deeds does she do in this tale?
Friends
Does Yaga have friends?
Enemies
Does Yaga have enemies?
Housing
Where does Baba Yaga live?
Who does he command?
Who is under her control?
Ingenuity
How Yaga is cunning in a fairy tale
For each fairy tale, we compiled a Baba Yaga Passport, which we put in the file cabinet.
Based on the results of my analytical work, we compiled a consolidated passport of Baba - Yaga - the goddess, listing all the most repeated meanings of the signs, and Baba - Yaga - the witch.
3.2 Undead
Having learned a lot about Baba Yaga, the question arose about measuring data about her. How to do it?
We came up with the UNCHISTER - a vertical scale showing how close to the witch or goddess a particular Baba Yaga from the work is. We fill the evil dimension, focusing on the control points. Then they compared the received passport with the control points and drew conclusions, drawing up diagrams based on the values of the evil meter.
IV. Conclusion
So who is she - Baba Yaga? This is hard to figure out.
When comparing Baba Yaga's passports according to Russian folk tales with control points, we came to the conclusion that in fairy tales the number of good and evil deeds of Baba Yaga are almost equal (witch-goddess - 5/4).
Hypothesis 1- Baba Yaga the witch.
She harms everyone.
Creates difficulties along the way.
Kidnaps children.
He can put him on a shovel and put him in the oven to eat later.
She looks scary.
Can an ogress be a good deity? No, but Baba Yaga is not a cannibal.
Many tales say that she put children on a shovel to fry in the oven. But this is not the whole truth. The fairy tale brings to us the ancient ritual of baking a child. Its essence was as follows: if a baby was born premature, then he was placed on a bread shovel and thrust three times into a warm oven, symbolizing the female womb. There the baby “fostered”, became stronger and more vital. Older children were treated in a similar way if they fell ill. There is such a disease as “dryness”, or “canine old age”. But in the old days, a sick child was covered with warm dough, sat on a shovel and thrust into a heated oven three times. In this case, it was believed that diseases were burned and came out through the chimney along with the smoke, and the “rebaked” child became healthier. This ritual was performed by the village healer. Thus, the version about Baba Yaga, a witch and healer, is not unfounded. The fairy tale only corrected the “plus” sign (overbaking a child benefits him) to a “minus” sign (the witch fries and eats children). Baba Yaga lived in harmony with nature, knew this folk method very well and cured many village children.
In fact, Baba Yaga did not eat human meat, this was invented by adults to scare small children. After all before fairy tales told “by word of mouth”, so they endowed her with different qualities - and good, and bad. Everyone came up with new details for the image of Baba Yaga - more terrible ones. And maybe it was not in vain that Baba Yaga frightened the people? People stopped being afraid - they began to destroy nature, pollute the atmosphere and water, cut down forests, drain swamps and change river flows. Many species of animals and birds have disappeared. IN Lately Yaga is not often shown to people. Perhaps he is waiting for us to become more careful and kinder to nature...
If you read the tales correctly, you can see that mothers did not send their daughters to her to be eaten. The girls took a real course in various feminine wisdom from Yaga: they learned to spin, weave, and cook.
A fairy tale is a product of its era, it changes over time, popular thought makes his own amendments to her story. Modern Baba Yaga more often comes to the aid of the hero, rescuing him from difficult situations.
Many still consider Baba Yaga a witch. But there's nothing wrong with that. The word “witch” comes from the word “to know,” that is, to know. From the same word came the name of the first holy books on earth - the Vedas. Moreover, good women healers who were in charge of medicine were called witches. different secrets, and for this they were treated by the people as saints.
Hypothesis 2-Baba Yaga is a goddess. In the consolidated passport of Baba-Yaga according to the author's fairy tales there were signs of a goddess - (4), witches - (2).
Based on the results of the study, we made the following conclusions:
Can do magic.
Shows the hero the way.
Gives good advice.
Can understand the language of animals and birds, commands them.
Negative characters are afraid of her.
Baba Yaga, like nature itself, never reveals all its secrets and remains an eternal mystery for humans.
Baba Yaga is not a negative character. However, it’s not positive either. It seems that she has her own code of honor (just like the gods of antiquity) and her own secrets.
This means that of the two hypotheses - “Baba Yaga the goddess”, “Baba Yaga the witch” - both were confirmed.
Many more generations of children will grow up reading Russian fairy tales, where Baba Yaga is evil and treacherous, but at the same time funny, amusing, and kind. Fairy tales once again remind us that good and evil live side by side in this life, but good always wins.
“The fairy tale is a lie, but there is a hint in it - a lesson for good fellows.” A.S. Pushkin.

“If you don’t obey, Baba Yaga will fly in, drag you into the forest and eat you!” Remember how our parents scared us as children? And we were terribly afraid, we stopped being capricious, fooling around, trying to do everything that mom and dad asked us to do.
In our children's understanding, the image of Baba Yaga in fairy tales is a hunchbacked old woman with a long hooked nose and shaggy hair. It was a sinister, terrible and demonic creature. In a word, a product of the forces of evil.

Who is Baba Yaga really? What is this mysterious and not fully understood character who appears in Slavic folklore? Why do Baba Yaga scare small children? What is hidden behind the image of Baba Yaga in fairy tales? Let's try to figure it out.

Baba Yaga is a popular character in Slavic fairy tales

She lives in a dense forest, in a hut on chicken legs. Yaga is the mistress of the forest, mistress of animals and birds, guardian of the borders of the “other kingdom.” She is always in action - flying on a mortar, shouting at her servants, catching up with heroes. She is not weak or infirm as it may seem. On the contrary, she is an energetic, strong, strong-willed old lady. Has a good appetite (“eats for ten”). Often this is a negative character, but sometimes acts as an assistant to the hero. Wields magical items. Endowed magical power. The image of Baba Yaga in fairy tales is often that of a witch or sorceress.

The article was written using training materials by Yuri Burlan

Among the various genres of oral storytelling, Russian folk tales, of course, deserve special attention. It's no secret that Russian folk tales appeared a long time ago and were passed on from mouth to mouth, thus surviving until the time when writing arose. This allowed fairy tales to gain popularity among more people, and therefore today each of us can enjoy the wealth fairy world, its diversity. A fairy tale is one of the main genres of folklore, a popular genre of oral folk art with a fictional attitude.

The world of Russian folk tales is unique and mysterious. In it you can meet and ordinary people, and merchants and merchantwomen, kings and their daughters, and fictional heroes, among whom Baba Yaga is perhaps one of the most colorful characters.

Once in class we read the fairy tale “Geese and Swans”. One of the characters was Baba Yaga. She was angry - she wanted to wash the girl, steam her, and then put her in the oven, fry her, eat her and ride on her bones.

We wondered, is Baba Yaga the same in all fairy tales? My teacher and I organized the “Book Gatherings” club. After lessons, we gathered in the classroom with our parents, read fairy tales, and discussed the image of Baba Yaga. What have we found out?

The same evil, cruel Baba Yaga was only in a fairy tale called “Baba Yaga”. She wanted to eat the girl the same way. He rushes in pursuit, gritting his teeth in anger. And when he encounters an obstacle on the way in the form of a river, he begins to drink water from the river. And Baba Yaga burst!

1. We read fairy tales:

"The Enchanted Princess"

“Go there - I don’t know where, bring that - I don’t know what”

"The Tale of Vasilisa the Wise»,

"The Tale of rejuvenating apples and living water"

“Little Ivan has a great mind”

"Finist - clear falcon"

"Princess Frog",

"Marya Morevna"

In these fairy tales, Baba Yaga greets those who come to her unfriendly at first, grumbles, and when she learns the reason for their arrival, she feeds, gives water, soars in the bathhouse, talks with the guests, and can even affectionately call: good fellow, child.

And he also helps - gives advice or shows the way.

2. Where does Baba Yaga live?

In a dense forest (or in a clearing), alone, in a hut on chicken legs (or on one chicken leg, or on a sparrow leg, on a spindle heel, on ram horns). The hut has one window, it can turn its back to the forest, and its front to the guests, or maybe from east to west. The hut may not be surrounded by a fence, but sometimes it is surrounded by a fence or a palisade with skulls.

3. What does Baba Yaga look like?

She is old, gray-haired, toothless, or with only one fang. In the hut he sits with his legs spread from one corner to another, his teeth are on the shelf, his nose is rooted in the ceiling. Can be located on the ninth brick on the stove. Despite his age, he moves quickly and even screams in a loud voice and whistles with a valiant whistle. He knows how to spin a tow.

4. Does Baba Yaga have any relatives?

Yes, I have. My own daughter is Princess Marya, the wife of Andrei the shooter. He recognizes his son-in-law by the fly that Princess Marya gave him for the journey. There are sisters: middle and older. There is a niece - the girl Sineglazka, Bogatyrka, the daughter of one of the sisters. The elder sister has a son - Zmey Gorynych, the nephew of the other Baba-Yagas.

5. Are there magical things?

A ball of wool is a guide, a mortar with a pestle and a broom is for movement; towel, comb; has power over violent winds; a silver saucer and a golden egg, a silver hoop and a golden needle, a silver bottom and a golden spindle; silver apples; a herd of magical horses, a raven - a bird of prophecy. He gives many of these things, uses some for his own purposes, and some lead to the death of Baba Yaga.

6. Unusual Baba Yaga.

At one of the meetings we read the fairy tale “Ivan Tsarevich and Bely Polyanin"and saw a completely different Baba Yaga!

Baba Yaga has a golden leg, she runs very fast, so it is difficult to catch up with her. Lives underground in big city in the chambers, holding the girl captive. There is a countless army (which is made for it by tailors and shoemakers), it has been fighting the White Polyanin for 30 years. Dies from the sword of Ivan Tsarevich.

7. Baba Yaga in Slavic mythology.

After reading the fairy tales, we wanted to know where the image of Baba Yaga came from. Here's what we learned.

Our distant ancestors attached a completely different meaning to Baba Yaga. Loose, disheveled hair symbolized a connection with the other world. According to tradition, the deceased woman's hair was unraveled. And a bone leg is also a sign of a long-dead person. Yes, and she flies in a mortar, covering her tracks, because the Slavs, sending the deceased to last way, always covered his trail so that he would not return to the world of the living. And the stupa is shaped very much like a wooden coffin. Therefore, the conclusion suggests itself: Baba Yaga - long ago deceased woman.
Why does she have a hut on chicken legs? It turns out that according to Slavic custom, while the soul of the deceased person had not yet decided, a “dwelling” was built for it. The ritual doll was placed in a special house and placed on a felled tree. Take a closer look at the tree roots chicken legs. By the way, among the peoples of the north this custom has been preserved to this day.
It is also very interesting that everyone comes to Baba Yaga for advice. In almost all fairy tales, Prince Ivan receives magical objects that help him in his “adventures.”
If we turn to the origin of the “name” “Baba Yaga”, we will see the following interpretation. A woman who has already given birth to a child was called a woman. "Yaga" - fire - fire. That is, it turns out that Baba Yaga is a woman - fire or a fiery woman. There was a verb “yagat” - to shout. This is a special cry in which very much was concentrated strong energy. This cry was made by hunters and women in labor. Based on this, it turns out that Baba Yaga is the main mother who knew and could do everything.
And how often in fairy tales can you hear: “Now I’ll put you on a shovel and into the oven!” But if you remember all the fairy tales, you will not find a single one where Baba Yaga fried at least one child. And this came from the fact that there was a ritual of baking a sick child. The grandmother-midwife wrapped the sick child in the charmed dough and sent it to the oven on a bread shovel. After a while, she took it out, unwrapped it, and gave the dough to the dogs. And what’s interesting is that after this procedure, the child was on the mend.

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depths of millennia ancestors

gave each of us an inheritance

truly priceless - fairy tales,

stories, epics, legends."

1. INTRODUCTION.

Fairy tales are a wonderful form of art. We enter the world of fairy tales at the very early childhood. Fairy tales amuse, entertain, sometimes frighten, they teach us to act honestly. They never become outdated, because they contain the wisdom of our ancestors, traditions and customs. With unusual generosity, the treasures of folk colloquial speech are shown in all their splendor in fairy tales.

IN modern world children have acquired many other interests. But we still love to watch, listen and read fairy tales. Time spent reading fairy tales together brings parents and children and generations closer together. We empathize with the heroes, learn to distinguish good from evil. The theme of good and evil is one of the eternal themes. And in our time it continues to remain relevant.

In fairy tales there are many magical characters. Particularly interesting is the image of Baba Yaga, which is one of the most mysterious and controversial female images in Russian fairy tales, combining positive and negative qualities. We wondered if there was this image in fairy tales of other peoples, and whether he is similar to the image of the traditional Russian Baba Yaga.

2. GOAL, OBJECTIVES, HYPOTHESES.

Target: Compare the image of the Russian Baba Yaga with the images similar heroes in fairy tales of other peoples.

Tasks:

Study the image of Baba Yaga.

Illustrate the image of Baba Yaga.

Using a survey, find out what kind of Baba Yaga children imagine, find out their opinion: does Baba Yaga exist in the fairy tales of other peoples.

Find and analyze Russian fairy tales and fairy tales of other nations where the image of Baba Yaga is found.

Compose comparison table images of Baba Yaga.

Create based on research creative project: Lapbook.

Draw conclusions.

Hypothesis: Let us assume that in the fairy tales of other peoples there are characters similar to the Russian Baba Yaga.

3.BABA YAGA IN RUSSIAN FAIRY TALES. WHO IS SHE?

A fairy tale is always based on a myth.

Initially, such a character as Baba Yaga appeared in Slavic mythology. There is no reliable translation of the name “Baba Yaga”, since there are so many options.

BABA - a woman, the eldest in a clan, family; married woman.

YAGA (Yaga, Yaga-baba, Yagaya Baba, Yagabikha, Yagabova, Yagaya, Yagikha, Yagishna Burya-Yaga, Yaza) - in Slavic languages the word “Yaga” itself is associated with the concept of danger, torment and horror, anger.

One version of the translation of the name “Baba Yaga” is the old woman of the forest, the big woman over the witches.

Baba Yaga was originally a positive character of ancient Russian mythology and folklore, the keeper of customs and traditions. The forest old woman is a sorceress, a witch who has the power of whirlwinds and blizzards. Lives in a dense forest. Baba Yaga's hut is located in the thicket of the forest or at the edge of the forest on chicken legs, facing the forest in front and back to the world. A “chicken leg” was once called a crossroads or fork in the road; such a place was considered “unclean” and dangerous. Baba Yaga leads a solitary life. In Baba Yaga's hut there is a stove that can be destructive for uninvited guests. The fence around the hut is made of human bones, and skulls hang on the fence. In the depths of the forest, she collects roots and herbs, dries them and makes various tinctures, decoctions and potions.

4. THE IMAGE OF BABA YAGA IN OUR REPRESENTATION.

Kate: " First of all, Baba Yaga is for me positive character. Good people she shows the way, gives advice, gives magical objects. Outwardly, I imagine her as a crooked old woman with a hooked nose, in a red scarf with white polka dots, in old clothes with a shawl thrown over her, she leans on a stick because she has a bone leg. Baba Yaga is gloomy and at first glance it may seem that she is angry. Baba Yaga is fair. But if you make her angry, then the traveler may be in trouble. She’s also lonely, so she evokes pity.”

Nastya: " Since childhood I liked fairy tales. I remember their heroes very well: Ivan Tsarevich, Gray Wolf, Vasilisa the Beautiful, but most of all Baba Yaga. For me, she is a kind old lady who brews a potion. She gives gifts, gives magic objects, teaches children to help with housework. “I believe that if there was no Baba Yaga, the fairy tale would not be interesting, the heroes could not achieve their goal.”

We illustrated our ideas about the image of Baba Yaga.

Illustration by Katya.

Illustration by Nastya.

5. RESEARCH PART.

5.1 Questionnaire.

Using a survey, we decided to find out how children imagine the image of Baba Yaga in Russian folk tales, and how they think: does a similar image exist in the fairy tales of other peoples. The questionnaire is attached (Appendix 1).

5.2 Survey results.

50 third grade students from our gymnasium took part in the survey.

After the survey, the following results were obtained.

Children believe that Baba Yaga is usually an angry, grumpy old woman.

Who is Baba Yaga?

Most believe that she lives in a hut in the forest.

Where does Baba Yaga live?

Her role in fairy tales, according to children, is mostly negative.

What kind of character is she presented as?

33 people consider Baba Yaga a kidnapper and devourer.

The image of Baba Yaga in Russian fairy tales.

In fairy tales of other nations, 39 people believe that it exists.

Is there a similar image of Baba Yaga in fairy tales of other peoples?

We decided to find out what similar images of Baba Yaga exist in fairy tales of other peoples and compare these images.

5.3 Analysis of fairy tales of other peoples.

For research and analysis, we took fairy tales of different peoples, both original and folk (Appendix 2).

First we read Russian fairy tales to understand what kind of character Baba Yaga is. Baba Yaga is a controversial, ambiguous and multifaceted character. In Russian fairy tales, she can act in both positive and negative roles. Her images in different fairy tales do not always correspond to each other.

Baba Yaga is an old hunchbacked sorceress with a long nose and gray disheveled hair, with a bone leg. Her bones come out from under her body in places. Baba Yaga has bony hands and sharp iron teeth. She does not walk, but rides (flies) in a stone, iron, fire mortar, driving it with a pestle or stick, covering her tracks with a broom (broom), so the broom is always turned with the handle forward, the broom back. Baba Yaga lives in a dense forest or in a swamp, in a “hut on chicken legs,” alone, with the exception of animals.

Baba Yaga can be a giver: she gives the hero gifts in return for kind, polite words, she can be caring and attentive: she wonders if the hero is full, if he is tired from the road (“The Tale of Rejuvenating Apples and Living Water”).

Baba Yaga may be a kidnapper of people, children, whom she tries to roast and eat; In the fairy tale “Geese-Swans”, Baba Yaga’s assistants, the geese-swans, kidnap a boy.

Baba Yaga can be a warrior (the folk tale “Baba Yaga and the Zamoryshek”, Baba Yaga fights the heroes with a fiery shield).

In addition to the images of Baba Yaga described in literature, we have identified several more.

Baba Yaga is a ruler. In most Russian fairy tales, she commands the elements, animals, and nature (“The Magic Needle” by Valentina Oseeva).

Baba Yaga is a guardian. She keeps wise advice, vitality, rituals, customs, magical crafts (Russian folk tale “Baba Yaga and Zamoryshek”). She can also be a magical assistant.

In fairy tales, the Russian Baba Yaga can act in both positive and negative roles.

After analyzing the fairy tales of other peoples, we determined that they also have heroes similar in image to our Baba Yaga.

In German fairy tales, there is an evil old witch with red eyes, bony hands, and an excellent sense of smell, who lives on the edge of the forest in a beautiful gingerbread decoy house; she acts in the negative image of a devourer. She has a crutch - a means of transportation, a bird - an assistant-bait for children (The Brothers Grimm "Hansel and Gretel"). However, there is an old woman with positive role, who lives in a hut in a meadow, teaches them to work, has compassion, gives gifts and fairly punishes lazy, rude heroes (“Mistress Blizzard”). The German fairy tale “Little Baba Yaga” by Otfried Preussler is not like all other fairy tales. The role of Baba Yaga is played by a little girl who does only good deeds.

In Mordovian fairy tales there are old women like Baba Yaga. This is the mistress of the forest Viryava (folk tale “The Tailor, the Bear, the Devil and Viryava”), similar to the Russian Baba Yaga. She lives deep in the forest in a hut, skillfully handling a pestle, poker, and grip. And the mistress of the underwater world Yoma (folk tale “Old Woman Yoma and Two Girls”), living in a hut that spins in the wind. Both old women are kind givers, they teach him to work, bestow gifts and punish the hero deservedly for laziness and rudeness. The images of these old women are very similar to the images of the Russian Baba Yaga.

Viryava.

In the gypsy folk tale “The Bewitched Orphan” there is a similar image in the old witch-old woman living in a clearing in a hut on chicken legs. Like the Russian Baba Yaga, she uses witchcraft, prepares potions, and has no assistants. The old woman shelters and raises a poor orphan and gives her a beautiful appearance.

In the Romanian folk tale “Ilyana Kosyzyan”, Baba Yaga is a witch with horse legs, steel teeth, and sickle-curved fingers. Outwardly, she differs from Baba Yaga, but she also accustoms the hero to work and rewards him for his work.

In Armenian fairy tales there is a witch in different images. Usually she is an old woman with a hooked nose, long sharp fingers, and four eyes (two in front, two in back). Her name is Kahard. Like the Russian Baba Yaga, she lives in a hut on chicken legs, flies on a broom, and has a stove in her hut. She is a very evil liar and...

Kahard.

In the Italian folk tale “The Shepherd Little Sprout” there is an old witch who has a hundred horsemen and cavalry as her assistants. She is a keeper, guarding her magical power, prevents the hero from returning home. The image of this sorceress also coincides with the image of the Russian Baba Yaga.

Barabakha.

The witch Barabakh in the Belarusian folk tale “Alenka” is similar in appearance to Baba Yaga. She lives in a hut. He wants to deal with the heroes by deception.

In Tatar fairy tales there are similar images in negative and positive roles. The witch Ubyr in the folk tale “The Stepdaughter” lives in a small hut deep in the forest. She accustoms to work, rewards for work, but also fairly punishes the heroes. And in the folk tale “Tan-Batyr”, the prototype of Baba Yaga is the witch Ubyrly Karchyk, who lives in the thicket of a magical forest. She uses cunning and witchcraft to harm the heroes.

Ubyrly Karchyk.

In the Czech folk tale “Jan Deda and the Red Baba Yaga” there is a red Baba Yaga who lives in a hut and is never seen by anyone. She helps the hero repay his debts.

The cruel, greedy and grumpy witch Howlit is featured in the English folk tale "Jeep and the Witch of Walgrave". She, like the Russian Baba Yaga, has a cat named Chernulin as her assistant. Howlith is a deceiver, she is trying to deal with the heroes.

And in the Irish folk tale “The Fairy of the Brook and the Spindle,” the old woman Holle with big long teeth rewards the heroes for their work. And she also lives in a hut.

In Slovak fairy tales there is a heroine Baba Yaga, that’s what she’s called. As in Russian fairy tales, she can play positive and negative role. She lives in a hut. In the folk tale “The Enchanted Castle,” she deceives the heroes and wants to deal with them. And in the folk tale “Hello Bridge,” Baba Yaga can move on a spinning wheel and seven-league iron boots. She gives the hero a job, stores wealth, and punishes the dishonest.

Howlit.

In the French fairy tales of Charles Perrault, the role of Baba Yaga is played by an evil old woman. In the fairy tale “Sleeping Beauty,” an evil old witch takes revenge for an insult. In the fairy tale “The Gingerbread House,” the witch, a hunched old woman with a stick and thick glasses on her nose, is a deceiver, cunning, insidious, luring the hero in order to eat him later.

Thus, in fairy tales of other peoples, Baba Yaga is present in different images, just as in Russian fairy tales, she can have different roles: both positive and negative.

Analyzing the tales of other peoples, we determined that there is no similar image of Baba Yaga as a warrior and kidnapper. Basically, this heroine appears in the form of a deceiver, saboteur, guardian, giver, assistant, sorceress, mentor.

Studying various literature(fairy tales, encyclopedias, information on the Internet) we learned that there are mythological heroes among other peoples who are not found in fairy tales, but in their image are very similar to Baba Yaga.

Perkhta.

The forest old sorceress is present in the mythology of different nations. In particular, among the Serbs, Croats and Macedonians there is an ugly ugly old woman with a cow's horn in the middle of her forehead, a long hooked nose, large ears, bony hands, fingers with long nails in torn, torn clothes. Her name is Baba Roga. This is a forest witch. In Montenegro she is called Baba Ruga. This witch visits children at night and scares them. She also does good while pretending to be a villain. A very contradictory image.

Baba Roga.

The Czech peoples have a frightening-looking old woman with a goose leg, Perchta (Berta). She wanders from house to house to see if the children have been diligent and hardworking, and then rewards or punishes them.

The Italians have Befana - an old witch flying on a broom, dressed all in black and with a bag of gifts and sweets on her back.

In Russian fairy tales, Baba Yaga plays the role of kidnappers, carrying away children, people whom she is trying to roast and eat. Baba Yaga maybe donor. Upon receiving the hero, he tests him and presents him with various gifts. In fairy tales Baba Yaga may be warrior, fighting the heroes and defeating many of them. Baba Yaga can also be an assistant, adviser, mistress of the forces of nature and the animal world (she commands the wind, storm, blizzard, morning, evening, night, wolves, bears and other forest animals).

After reading fairy tales of different peoples, we learned that many works are similar in plot to each other. For example, the fairy tale of the modern author Liya Geraskina “A Blue Flower for Mom” echoes the plot of the German fairy tale of the Brothers Grimm “Hansel and Gretel” and the French fairy tale of Charles Perrault “The Gingerbread House”, the German fairy tale “Mistress Blizzard” with the Mordovian fairy tale “Old Woman Yoma” and two girls."

5.4 Comparison table.

We presented the results of the study in the form of a summary table.

Fairy tale		Appearance	Habitat		Housing	Vehicle	Attributes	Assistants	Role in fairy tales	Actions	Image
Russian tales
Folk tale “The Tale of Rejuvenating Apples and Living Water”								Big sisters	Positive	She gave the hero a horse, accommodation, food, and advice.	Giver
Folk tale "Baba Yaga and Zamoryshek"			Steep mountain		White stone chambers		Handkerchief Fire Shield	Faithful Servants	Negative	Fights with a fire shield against heroes. I wanted to deal with them	Warrior girl
Folk tale "Geese and Swans"		Old crone with a bone leg			Hut on chicken legs with one window			Swan geese	Negative	Sent the geese to kidnap the child	Kidnapper
Valentina Oseeva “The Magic Needle”		Old woman with a bone leg			A hut on chicken legs		Carpet plane Spindle		Negative	I wanted to deal with the hero	Sovereign Enchantress
Liya Geraskina “Blue flower for mom”		Hunched old woman - witch			Gingerbread house	Mortar with broom		Black cat	Negative	Luring to deal with the heroes	Sovereign
German fairy tales
Brothers Grimm "Hansel and Gretel"	Wicked old witch	An old woman with visually impaired red eyes, an excellent sense of smell, and bony hands.	forest edge		Gingerbread Sugar House (decoy)		iron cage	Birdie (bait)	Negative	Affectionately lures you in so you can eat it later	Cheater
Otfried Preusler "Little Baba Yaga"	Little witch Baba Yaga				Tiny rickety hut		Witch Book	Raven Abrahas	Positive	I couldn’t do evil deeds, I helped everyone	Giver
Folk tale "Mistress Blizzard"	Mrs. Metelitsa (proto-image of Baba Yaga)	Old woman with big teeth, affectionate							Positive	Accustoms to work, is compassionate, gives gifts deservedly and punishes	Giver Mentor
Romanian fairy tales
Folk tale “Ilyana Kosynzyan”		Grandma with horse legs, steel teeth, and sickle-curved fingers						Crows, wolves	Positive	Accustoms to work, rewards for work	Giver Mentor
English fairy tales
Folk tale "The Jeep and the Witch of Walgrave"		The witch is cruel, greedy, grumpy		At the edge of a light forest	A rickety house under a thatched roof			Cat Chernulin	Negative		Liar
Mordovian fairy tales
Folk tale "Old Woman Yoma and two girls"	Old Woman Yoma	Old woman like Baba Yaga		Undersea world	A hut that turns in the wind			Runner lizards, tomboy frogs, swimming beetles	Positive Negative	Accustoms to work, gives gifts deservedly and punishes deservedly	Giver Mentor
Folk tale “The Tailor, the Bear, the Devil and the Wiryava”	Viryava - mistress of the forest	An old woman like Baba Yaga		forest thicket	Forest hut		Pestle, poker, grip, frying pan, broom, frying pan		Positive Negative	She gave the hero (a man) a hut and gave him her daughter in marriage. Commits hooliganism	Giver Mentor
Armenian fairy tales
Folk tale "The Girl and the Witch"		Like Baba Yaga An old woman with a hooked nose, long sharp fingers, and four eyes (two in front, two in back)		In the thicket, in the dark forest	A hut on chicken legs				Negative	A deceiver, trying to deal with the heroes	Liar
Tatar tales
Folk tale "Stepdaughter"	Witch-Ubyr	Old woman with long hair		Deep in the forest	Little hut		Chest		Positive	Accustoms to work, tests human qualities, rewards for work Punishes fairly	Mentor
Folk tale "Tan-Batyr"	Ubyrly Karchyk	The witch is an analogue of Baba Yaga		In the thicket of a magical winter forest	In a hut, in a hut				Negative	Uses cunning and sorcery to harm the heroes	Enchantress
Belarusian fairy tales
Folk tale "Alyonka"	Witch Baraba-ha	The old woman is hunchbacked, bony, with a long nose.		In the forest thicket					Negative	Tries to deal with the heroes	Liar
Slovak fairy tales
Folk tale “The Enchanted Castle”				In the deep forest					Negative	Tries to deal with the heroes	Liar
Folk tale "Hello, bridge"		Witch is evil		In the woods	Lonely house, hut	Iron seven-mile boots	Iron scallops		Positive Negative	Gives work, stores wealth, punishes the dishonest	Store linen Mentor
Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Montenegrin peoples
Mythological creature	Baba Roga - old forest witch, evil spirit Baba Ruga (Montenegro)	An ugly ugly old woman with a cow horn in the middle of her forehead, a long hooked nose, big ears, bony hands and fingers with long nails, torn, torn clothes.		In the forest behind the mountains	in caves, in distant deep forests At night she tracks down children (Baba Yaga is her sister)				Positive Negative	At night he visits children and scares them. Does good while pretending to do evil
Czech people
Mythological creature	Perkhta (Berta)	Scary looking old woman with goose leg							Positive Negative	Wanders from house to house to find out whether the children were diligent and hardworking. Reward-rewards or punishes
Italian people
Mythological creature		An old witch flying on a broom, dressed all in black and with a bag of gifts and sweets on her back.								Brings gifts to children

6. CREATIVE PROJECT - LAPTOP.

Based on our work, we decided to present a creative project: an interactive folder - Lapbook. (Attached). It can be used in lessons literary reading for working with children. A laptop helps you better understand and remember material on the topic you are studying.

7. CONCLUSIONS.

Based on the results of the work, we can draw the following conclusions.

Our hypothesis was confirmed. The image of Baba Yaga is present in fairy tales of other peoples. This character is similar to the Russian Baba Yaga, but may have a different name. Basically, this is an old woman with ugly facial features, who has certain characteristics, who lives alone, her home is located in hard-to-reach places, away from people.

The Russian Baba Yaga has many attributes, assistants, magical objects, and a means of transportation. In fairy tales of other nations, helpers and magical objects are not always present; there is no means of transportation except in German fairy tales. In German and French fairy tales, housing in the form of edible houses is a bait for heroes.

The heroines of Armenian, Belarusian, Tatar, and Mordovian fairy tales are closest to the image of Baba Yaga. Most likely this is due to the proximity of traditions, culture, and history.

8. CONCLUSION.

Fairy tales are magic! Reading them, we plunge into a mysterious, inexplicable, unknown world. Through plots and images in fairy tales, the basic cultural values of the people are reflected. Analyzing fairy tales is very interesting and instructive. Fairy tales teach us to divide the world into good and bad people. Fairy tales teach us not to be afraid of difficulties. The fairy tale teaches you to love your family. The main thing that the fairy tale teaches is that good always comes back as good.

Studying the fairy tales of the peoples of the world, it can be noted that they are similar in plot, characters and their trials. The difference is associated with the characteristics of another culture, nature, and customs.

Analyzing the fairy tale, we begin to think that this is not only a fascinating story, but also a kind of greeting from the past, a story about how our ancestors lived and believed.

“Fairy tales are brilliant, the best gold in the world, the gold that sparkles in children’s eyes rings with laughter from children’s lips and the lips of their parents.”

9. REFERENCES.

1. Grushko E.A. Russian legends and traditions. - M.: Eksmo Publishing House, 2005.

2. Judy Allen. Fantasy encyclopedia. - M.: “Rosman”, 2008.

3. Medvedev Yu.M. Russian folk tales, legends and traditions. Astrel LLC, 1999.

4. Mythology. Legends, tales, traditions from all over the world. M.: “Astrel AST”, 2001.

5. Naumenko G.M. Large anthology of mythological fairy tale characters for children. - M.: “AST Astrel”, 2007.

6. Retelling by A.N. Afanasyev. Baba Yaga. - M.: ONIX, 2008.

7. Ed. Polyakov V. Children's encyclopedia. Fairy-tale heroes. JSC "Arguments and Facts" No. 4, 2000.

8. Shuklin V. Russian mythological dictionary. Ekaterinburg Ural publishing house, 2001.

9. Geraskina L. Blue flower for mom. RIO "Samovar", 2004

10. Otfried Preusler. Little Baba Yaga. RIO "Samovar", 1990

11. Russian folk tales. "Omega", 2005

12. Tales of the peoples of the world. "Children's Literature", 1987

13. Tales of the peoples of the world in 10 volumes. Moscow, 1994

14. Russian folk tales volume I. Moscow, 1994

15. Tales of the peoples of Europe. Moscow, 1994

16. Tales of peoples of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. Moscow, 1994

17. Oseeva V. Blue leaves. Eksmo Publishing House LLC, 2009

18. Internet resources:

http://www.larec-skazok.ru/skazki-pro/vedm

http://www.e-reading.club

http://ru-skazki.ru

http://hobbitaniya.ru/

https://ru.wikipedia.org

Annex 1

Questionnaire

1. Who do you think Baba Yaga is? (check)

 Kind old woman with a broom  Witch, witch  Evil grumpy old woman

2. What character do you imagine her to be? (check)

 Positive  Negative

3. Baba Yaga's appearance? (check, several options are possible)

 Disheveled White hair

 Humpback

 Long nose

 Sweet cute

 Bone leg

4. Where does Baba Yaga live? (check)

 In the swamp  In the forest in a hut  Next door to Leshiy

5. What does Baba Yaga do? (check)

 Helps travelers

 Flies in a mortar, steals children

 Conjures, prepares decoctions, potions

6. Who do you think Baba Yaga is? (check)

 Sorceress (possesses magical power)

 Giver (gives heroes wonderful objects, gives good advice)

 Kidnapper and devourer (kidnaps children and eats them)

 Warrior (enters into a fight with the heroes of fairy tales)

7. Do you think there is a similar image of Baba Yaga in the fairy tales of other peoples?

 Yes  No

Appendix 2

List of selected fairy tales

Russian tales:

Folk tale “The Tale of Rejuvenating Apples and Living Water”

Folk tale "Baba Yaga and the little bastards"

Folk tale "Geese and Swans"

Valentina Oseeva “The Magic Needle”

Liya Geraskina “Blue flower for mom”

German fairy tales:

Brothers Grimm "Hansel and Gretel"

Otfried Preusler "Little Baba Yaga"

Folk tale "Mistress Blizzard"

Romanian fairy tales:

Folk tale “Ilyana Kosynzyan”

French fairy tales:

Charles Perrault "Sleeping Beauty"

Charles Perrault "The Gingerbread House"

Czech fairy tales:

Folk tale "Jan Deda and the red Baba Yaga"

English fairy tales:

Folk tale "The Jeep and the Witch of Walgrave"

Irish fairy tales:

Folk tale "The Fairy of the Stream and the Spindle"

Mordovian fairy tales:

Folk tale "Old Woman Yoma and two girls"

Folk tale “The Tailor, the Bear, the Devil and the Wiryava”

Gypsy tales:

Folk tale "The Bewitched Orphan"

Armenian fairy tales:

Folk tale "The Girl and the Witch"

Italian fairy tales:

Folk tale "The Shepherd - Little Rostock"

Belarusian fairy tales:

Folk tale "Alyonka"

Tatar tales:

Folk tale "Stepdaughter"

Folk tale "Tan-Batyr"

Slovak fairy tales:

Folk tale “The Enchanted Castle”

Folk tale "Hello, bridge"

"Baba Yaga" Ivan Bunin

The booming noise in the forest makes you sleepy -
By nightfall, a damp fog fell on the sea.
Surrounded on all four sides
Buyan island in dark autumn.

And even darker is my cold log house,
Wherever you light a fire, dare to drown it,
And only brown oak looks out the window,
Under which Koschey buried death.

I've grown old, I'm all sick -

If there was a fire in the light, I would warm myself,
If there was wood in the stove, I would sip the soup,

Yes, fire is the message in the seas to the sailor,
Yes, you can hear the smoke from the bast for many miles...

Analysis of Bunin's poem "Baba Yaga"

I. A. Bunin entered Russian poetry as a talented poet and landscape painter. His poems were surprisingly colorful, capturing native and overseas nature and depicting portraits of people he met. Ivan Alekseevich’s stories on fairy tale themes were no less striking. An example of this is the work “Baba Yaga”.

"Baba Yaga" was first published in the collection "Poems of 1907". The work has a simple composition, it consists of four stanzas-quatrains. Cross rhyme (abab). The poetic meter is unusual: there are five stops in a line, the first three fit into a trochee, followed by a pause, often shaped like a dash. In the last two feet the stress falls on the second syllable, which corresponds to iambic. Thanks to this unusual combination of meters, the poems become like epics.

The poem is spoken in the first person. Baba Yaga herself speaks to the readers, but in her image we do not recognize the ominous sorceress who is known to us from folk tales. Readers are presented with the image of a lonely old woman who finds herself cut off from the rest of the world at the cruel whim of more powerful forces. As you get to know lyrical heroine we may even feel some sympathy and pity for her.

This is what Baba Yaga tells about her lot: her modest gloomy home is located on the gloomy island of Buyan. The reader remembers this place from the work of A. S. Pushkin “The Tale of Tsar Saltan”. It is deserted and scary; even the most desperate travelers rarely come here. To enhance the bleakness of the landscape, the poet uses the following epithets: “booming noise”, “damp fog”, “dark autumn”, “cold log house”.

We understand that it is not at all easy for the heroine to live in such a place. Baba Yaga complains about her fate, explaining that she is keeping her here:
I've grown old, I'm all sick -
I have been protecting the casket for ten hundred years!

So, Baba Yaga is the keeper of the casket with the death of Koshchei. But she herself is not happy with this appointment. Very realistically, the heroine reproaches herself either for greed, which pushed her to take on this work, or for gullibility, thanks to which the witch ended up imprisoned on the island:
The devil told you to go to hell and become a servant,
You old fool, foolish bastard!

The poet uses anaphors (“Be fire... Be firewood...”, “Yes fire... Yes, much...”), giving Baba Yaga’s speech a resemblance to a spell. The reader understands that the heroine is a Russian sorceress thanks to such colloquial expressions as “warmed herself up”, “slipped on the soup”.

It is interesting that this poem was created over the course of 2 years - from 1906 to 1908. There is no exact data that would explain how the poet wrote “Babu Yaga”. Maybe first Ivan Alekseevich formulated the plot outline, and then added details. Or the lines were born right away, but from time to time the author corrected them. In any case, considering how complete and believable the image of poor Baba Yaga turned out to be, we can say that the work was worth so many years of work.