Topic Research: Baba Yaga

    


Baba Yaga, from Vasilisa the Beautiful 5. Ivan Bilibin. 1900. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

    For my topic, I've chosen stories around the Russian folktale figure Baba Yaga. Most of the popular stories focus on her being either a child-eater or an all-ages cannibal. However, there are some stories where she is portrayed as more of a morally ambiguous character and in one story even a really good guy. I think those stories are much more interesting.

    Probably the most interesting thing about the character is she is sometimes portrayed as not one person but a trio of sisters! This is the main detail I want to carry over to my storybook with each story being a different triplet with a different personality.

    The first story is the main Baba Yaga story in The Project Gutenberg EBook of Russian Fairy Tales, by W. R. S. Ralston. This story is about a girl whose father marries an abusive woman who turns out to be a sister of Baba Yaga (although strangely doesn't look like her at all). The girl escapes the Baba Yaga from advice from her aunt about being kind to the servants of the Baba Yaga.

    The second story is a quick rundown at the end of the Baba Yaga story in the link above. The good daughter who is kind and listens to advice is given gold and the evil step-sister who is mean and shuns advice is given fire which kills her and her mother (a.k.a. the good daughter's evil step-mother).

    The third story is from Marya Moryevna in which the Baba Yaga helps a prince get his wife back from an evil man.

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