"Baba Yaga, bone leg." The history of the emergence of a fairy-tale character

Baba Yaga is the wife of Veles and a strong sorceress, about whom in ancient times Slavic mythology many legends have been made. Over time, this character gradually turned into an evil, scary, shaggy old cannibal on a bone leg, living in the forest in a strange house on bird legs and luring people to her. However, not all so simple. Has Baba Yaga always been a negative character, and what rituals and traditions are associated with her - read in the material.

What does her name mean and who is she

Scientists different countries tried to translate the word Baba Yaga, and as a result, they did not come to a consensus. There were no discrepancies with the term baba, it is safe to say that this part of the name means a female person. And what about Yaga? For example, in the Komi language the word "yag" means forest. From Czech "jeze" is translated as an evil aunt. In Slovenian, "jeza" means anger, while Serbo-Croatian offers a variant of "jeza", which means horror. In Sanskrit, the word yaga comes from the root ah, which means to move. If we go back to the origins, then translated from the Proto-Slavic “ega” means horror, danger, and anger.

All variants, except, perhaps, Komi and Sanskrit, suggest something terrible, terrible, evil. However, this Baba Yaga was not always: initially this character was positive.

In pre-Christian Russia, Yaga was considered the most famous coastline, she kept the family and folk traditions. After Rus' was baptized, belief in pagan gods began to be considered heresy, and for the most part they turned into malicious and terrible creatures. This fate did not pass and Baba Yaga, who became a nasty, angry and ugly old woman, whose appearance and behavior inspired fear.

Yaga - a guide to the afterlife

In many Russian fairy tales main character to achieve his goal, he must get to the Far Far Away kingdom. And it is Baba Yaga who helps him in this. After the prince, the peasant, any other good fellow gets to the grandmother, he asks her for help in this. At first, Yaga refuses, intimidating the hero, showing him his terrible dwelling, talking about his nightmarish deeds and about what suffering he will have to endure. But then he changes his anger to mercy and starts heating the bathhouse, where the guest carefully soars. This is nothing more than a ritual bath.

Then comes the time for treats, and this moment can also be considered as a kind of rite, the so-called mortuary dinner, designed to penetrate into the sinister realm of the dead. It turns out that the hero is alive, but after all the rituals, he is in a strange position, between the living and the dead, which later transformed into the saying "neither alive nor dead."

But after that, he easily falls into the desired kingdom, fulfills his mission there and wins.

Yaga healer and healer

Baba Yaga knows how to prepare a variety of potions, love potions, tinctures, she dries roots and herbs, in general, fully corresponds to the image of a healer. In ancient times, people who knew how to use the gifts of nature and achieve the desired results with the help of herbal remedies were most often feared, but at the same time revered. Once again they were not contacted, they were contacted only when there was a strong need for it.

Baba Yaga was not distinguished by beauty.

Many healers really lived very secluded, often settled in the forest. This is understandable - it was more convenient to find the right herbs there and no one could interfere with the process of preparing medicines.

IN old fairy tales it is often mentioned that Baba Yaga roasts babies in the oven, putting them there on a shovel. But, if we recall the ritual of "baking" babies who were sick with rickets, then everything will become clear. The baby was wrapped in a kind of sheet of dough, laid on a shovel for bread and put into a warm heated oven several times. After that, the child was swaddled, the used dough was thrown out into the yard, where it (according to legends - along with the disease) was eaten by dogs.

Sinister attributes and contradictions

Baba Yaga lives, as every child knows today according to fairy tales, in a house on chicken legs. Why does this granny live in such a dwelling? The answer may be related to the fact that in ancient times it was customary for the Slavs to build original crypts for the dead, which were small buildings on high piles. Such houses were placed on the edge of the forest. There is an assumption that this is why Baba Yaga lives in a kind of house for the dead, and her hut can be considered as a transit point between life and death.

Today, no one is afraid of Babu Yaga, she is perceived exclusively as a fairy-tale character.

Protecting her home, she erects a fence of bones, decorated with skulls. This character moves in a mortar, while during the flight he uses a broom to cover his tracks. The stupa looks like oak deck, and in it in the old days they kept the dead. Consequently, Baba Yaga is essentially rushing through the air in a coffin, in an oak mortar. This old woman has the talent of a sorceress, she is able to easily cause damage. Yaga is entertained by the fact that by cunning he lures people into his house, most often young men or children, in order to fry them in his huge oven and eat them.

Indeed, scary. Despite this, if we recall Russian folk tales, it is unlikely that at least one will come to mind in which Baba Yaga carried out her threats. On the contrary, the heroes, getting to the old woman's house, take a steam bath, eat deliciously, sleep sweetly, and then they also receive guidance, advice and gifts. They are offered valuable unusual items, for example, a flying carpet, gusli-samogudy, boots-walkers. With their help, the guest of Baba Yaga receives a special power, becomes practically invulnerable, which helps him to carry out his plans. Baba Yaga seems to endow the main character with special abilities, helping him defeat evil and achieve his goal. From an evil old woman, a kidnapper and a hooligan, Yaga returns to her original image - albeit a grouchy and absurd, but a kind woman-keeper.

If we analyze folk tales, then Yaga seems to be not just an evil old woman who knows how to conjure. She is something else, able to modify time and space, possessing divine power.

Nowadays it is difficult to imagine a holiday without fairy-tale characters. On the one hand, heroes or, for example, in the case of the New Year, Santa Claus, and on the other, Baba Yaga, perform. She, as always, wants to harm or plot something bad and is an opponent of all that is good. IN folk tales and in the heads modern people. It is always evil against which good fights. And is it really so? Is it evil real baba yaga Or is it just a general delusion that has settled in everyone's head. This character is interpreted different guises. Sometimes she beautiful girl helping people, somewhere an old woman with one leg and long nose. To find out who is real baba yaga, it is necessary to analyze the folklore of countries, the religious component of ancient peoples, as well as the history of writers.

The real legend of Baba Yaga in various mythologies.

On Slavic land many different myths and beliefs appeared. One of these myths is the myth of Baba Yaga. The mythology of the Slavs tells us that Baba Yaga, she is also Yagishna and Yaga-Yagishna, one of the most ancient characters Slavic folklore. Initially, among the Slavs, she was a goddess, or rather, the goddess of death. She looked more fantastic than today, it was believed that she was a woman with a snake tail, guarding the entrance to the world of death and seeing off the dead on their journey to the underworld. Here you can see a parallel with another mythological character - Echidna from the myths of Greece. Moreover, according to the legends, after Hercules and Echidna shared a bed, the first Scythians appeared, from whom, in turn, the Slavs descended. The modern Baba Yaga, despite her human form, has many similarities with the real Baba Yaga. It can be assumed that the one-leggedness of Baba Yaga has a direct reference to the ancient Baba Yaga, with a snake tail. All these facts, moreover, connect this character with an animal-like image, namely, they personify with a snake. This reptile for a long time was considered a minion of unclean forces. In ancient manuscripts, the snake is the guardian of the underworld. Later, snake-like people appeared. Based on the above, it can be assumed that real baba yaga is a reference to the goddess of death among the ancient Slavs, whom they honored and respected. Due to the fact that Baba Yaga had such power, knowledge and strength, many heroes went to her for advice or help.

In addition to all of the above, there was another belief about the real Baba Yaga. It was believed that she could live in any village, pretending to be one of the villagers. IN this case this representation compares her to an ordinary witch. Most likely, this idea came from the inquisitorial times of Europe. But specifically among the Slavs, Baba Yaga was still a stronger character than an ordinary witch. Usually she lives in a deaf, dark place in the forest, where it is very difficult to get through. It was believed that the place where her hut on chicken legs stands is a kind of border between two dimensions. Myths also say that the real food that Baba Yaga eats is human meat, which gives her strength. Only a creature half dead can live on the border of the worlds, due to this fact the real Baba Yaga has almost limitless power.

IN Slavic fairy tales and myths, Baba Yaga appears in different roles. Sometimes this is a creature that has a wonderful command of sword fighting techniques and can fight unevenly with any hero. Most often, this is an old woman who kidnaps children and eats them, in connection with which she is hunted. Also, Baba Yaga can act as an adviser to the hero. Having invited the hero to visit, she will give him a drink, feed him and, if necessary, give advice on how to defeat evil. The real old Baba Yaga mostly moves with the help of a stupa. So that no one follows, a broom is attached to the stupa, which sweeps up all traces of it. Baba Yaga has endless knowledge, knows the future, as well as dark magic. She has the power of darkness at her disposal. Baba Yaga also commands snakes, black cats, frogs, crows. All those animal eyes and ears are witches. Moreover, in each of them she can reincarnate and observe people. The beliefs say that Baba Yaga can command the forces of nature.

As usual, it is compared with something bad. Death itself dwells around her. She kidnaps and eats people, especially children. Sometimes it is compared with a real winged serpent. Baba Yaga lives in a hut on chicken legs. It is believed that this hut is a kind of portal to another world.

Versions of the origin of the image of Baba Yaga.

Despite all her negativity, Baba Yaga was considered something like the mother of the universe. For example, like the Greek mother of all creatures, Echidna, Baba Yaga has sons and daughters. She controls three riders (a black rider, a white rider and a red rider), who bypass her possessions and catch all travelers. As already mentioned above, Baba Yaga is a character in the myths of many countries. Besides Echidna, the Greeks have another similar character. This is Hekate, goddess of the night. The heroes of Greece were afraid of her, but, nevertheless, sometimes they asked for advice and sought help, as, for example, was the case with Jason. IN Indian mythology there is the character of Kali, among the Germans - Hel, who is in charge of the underworld. Most likely, it was from the Scandinavian peoples that the Slavs got the legend of Baba Yaga.

Another version of the birth of Baba Yaga also comes from the ancients. Slavic peoples. In their times, the funeral of the deceased was a whole rite. Since ancient times, the dead were kept in small houses located above the ground, on stumps. It was these stumps and houses that became the prototype of the Hut on Chicken Legs. The roots of the stumps looked very much like chicken legs. Due to the fact that they used to think that the dead were flying, these houses stood as a door from the settlement. dead people they laid them in the houses with their feet towards the exit, and if anyone looked in there, he only saw the legs of a dead man. Hence the bone leg. Ancient people treated the dead with respect and tried not to disturb them in vain, but there were cases when they were addressed with advice. Other sources tell us that real baba yaga- this is a priestess of the cult of death, who performed rituals, sacrificed animals and concubines, so that the soul would find its way to another world. In any case, the real truth is that Baba Yaga has taken root in contemporary folklore and legends of the world.

Name: Baba Yaga

A country: Russia

Creator: Slavic mythology

Activity: witch

Family status: Single

Baba Yaga: character history

The terrible witch Baba Yaga spends more than one century in a hut standing in a dark forest. The character, whose roots come from Slavic mythology, absorbed many symbols over time, turning into a controversial nature. On the one hand, Yaga is waiting for the children to roast them in the oven, on the other hand, good fellows and misguided travelers turn to the old woman for help. The forest dweller does not refuse them wise advice and magical gifts that make the task of the heroes of fairy tales easier.

History of creation

In Slavic mythology, Yaga was the daughter of Viy, the ruler of the Middle Kingdom of Navi, and had a "pass" to the upper kingdom. The girl always remained young and was not inferior in beauty to her sisters Lada and Devana. She was considered a strong warrior, but she did not enter into the disassembly of the gods on principle, considering wars to be a base occupation for divine beings.

The father could not give Yaga in marriage, because the goddess of the Lunar pantheon set a condition - she would agree to marriage only with those who defeated her. The wise werewolf god, the patron of art Veles, defeated the obstinate girl of marriageable age in a duel. Love broke out between the mythological characters, and they became spouses.

Yaga took the post of the ruler of the Upper underworld borders between the world of the living and world of the dead. According to legend, the immortal beauty-goddess was overtaken by the curse of the Irian gods, and Yaga turned into an ancient old woman. Even the souls of the people on whom she ate did not help to restore her former beauty.

This terrible old woman, who spends her life in a hut at the edge of the forest, settled later in fairy tales.

However, versions of the origin of the character do not end there. Perhaps the image of Baba Yaga came from the deity of death - a woman with a snake's tail guarded the approaches to the underworld, meeting the souls of the dead and seeing them off on their last journey.

Supports this theory and the home of Baba Yaga. The hut on chicken legs is a symbol of the "gateway" in other world. Researchers are considering two options for the origin of a dwelling of just such a design. Perhaps "chicken" is a change in the word "chicken". In ancient times, our ancestors built death houses for the dead, which towered on pillars fumigated with smoke. Such buildings were erected on ancient stumps, whose roots really look like chicken legs.

Most often, the hut is surrounded by a palisade, “decorated” with skulls glowing in the night. Here is a vivid symbol of the border between the world of the living and the dead. The doors of the death houses looked into the forest, and if you look inside, you could see the legs of the dead. This is probably why the phrase "bone leg" was added to the name of Baba Yaga. Another option - the ancient Slavs called yagimi people suffering from leg diseases.

The name and some qualities of the character indicate that the inhabitant of the forest was a healer living away from people, like all witches. The word "yaga" comes from "ide" or "yaz" - a disease, weakness. A constant desire the old women frying the guests of the hut in the stove reminds of the pagan ritual of treating babies. Parents of young children did not disdain the ritual of “baking”: the healer wrapped the baby in dough, placed it on a bread shovel and thrust it into the heated oven three times. The dough was then fed to the dogs.

Only in fairy tales Baba Yaga is always going to eat a baked guest. Researchers believe that the rite of treatment changed its pole from positive to negative during the establishment of Christianity in Rus', when the new religion needed to denigrate paganism.

And, finally, theory No. 3 - Baba Yaga personified the mother goddess of all living things, a wise priestess, a forest woman, who owned the right to conduct the rite of "initiation" of grown boys. The meaning of the ritual was to initiate the young man into a full member of society, and for this the child must “die” and be reborn as an adult man. The procedure is unpleasant - not only did it take place in dense forest, so it was also accompanied by torture.

Image

Gradually, the sorceress or deity turned into an evil, shaggy witch with a long hooked nose, who kidnaps children or waits for a guest to make herself a feast of human flesh. True, she never ate a single character in any fairy tale.

Baba Yaga in the cartoon "Ivan Tsarevich and Gray wolf"

On the contrary, more often Yaga acts as a mentor and assistant in the transition from the kingdom of the living to the other world - the distant magical land, called the Far Far Away Kingdom, the Thirtieth State, located beyond the fiery Smorodina River (the river in Slavic mythology symbolizes the border between the world of the living and the dead). A guest (usually Ivan the Fool) receives a hut on chicken legs from a hospitable hostess magic items who will help out in difficult situations. For example, a ball, walking boots, a horse or a sword.

A tall hunchbacked old woman with gray unkempt hair is dressed in rags - this is how she is presented in cartoons and movies. However, in fairy tales, clothes are not described at all. Artists of popular prints depict an elderly woman in bast shoes, a dress and a waistcoat, sometimes a forest dweller appears in a red skirt and boots.

Fierce by nature, Yaga easily predicts the future, is wise and, in a sense, fair.

Attributes, friends and enemies

Baba Yaga travels around the world in a mortar. An iron pestle or club helps to add speed to the vehicle, and a broomstick attached to the back helps to cover the tracks. Later, in fairy tales, vehicles were endowed with flying abilities, where the pomelo acquired additional functions. It gives the stupa maneuverability, gives the ability to turn in different directions, make a dive or take off vertically.

An integral part of the exterior of the old woman's dwelling were skulls (first horse, then human), playing the role of lamps, and sometimes weapons. Countless treasures and a whole heap of magical gizmos are stored inside the hut.

Yaga makes friends with various inhabitants of the forest - kikimors, wood goblins. Often helps Kashchei the Immortal (appears to be his aunt, mother or distant relative) or, on the contrary, is at enmity with him, doing all sorts of dirty tricks. In the service of the forest old woman are a black cat, owls and crows, snakes and frogs.

Baba Yaga on screen

The character has taken a strong place in literature, cartoons and fairy-tale film productions. Baba Yaga began to flicker on the screens in Soviet time- the great director-storyteller made the old woman a movie star. The first image of this negative character tried on in 1939 in the fairy tale "Vasilisa the Beautiful". The sinister Baba Yaga turned out to be so successful that one immediately believes in her real existence.

It is noteworthy that Georgy Frantsevich invented and created the costume on his own: he put on dirty old rags, and put on a scarf that was not the first freshness on his gray, disheveled head, tying it in a special way - so that the ends stick out forward. After a glorious debut, Millyar starred in this role several times with Rowe.

The list of men who played the cinematic Yaga was replenished by getting used to the role in the musical production of "At the thirteenth hour of the night."

The television path of Baba Yaga was not so simple. The scattering of films reflects the inconsistency of the nature of the forest dweller. The young generation of the 60s saw a kind old woman in the face of an actress in the fairy tale "Merry Magic". She created an even more affectionate image of Yagi in the film "There on unknown paths ...". A well-fed grandmother with a kind soul decorated the painting “How Ivan the Fool went for a miracle” - the image was created by Maria Barabanova.

A non-trivial old woman turned out in the film "Lada from the country of the Berendeys." And she endowed the character with cunning, appearing in the "New Year's Adventures of Masha and Vitya."

In their works, the heroine of Slavic legends was also taken with pleasure by directors who were far from the genre of fairy tales. Baba Yaga entered the films with a fantastic bias "Purple Ball" (the role went to Valentina Khovenko) and "Island of the Rusty General" (brilliantly embodied the image).

After the collapse Soviet Union the hostess of the hut on chicken legs did not even think of leaving the cinema. True, at first she took a 15-year break in her “career”, and in 2004 she again pleased the audience, appearing on the screens as a young and beautiful Yaga, in love with Kashchei the Immortal. They were invited to the role of Yaga in his youth in the film "The Legend of Kashchei, or In Search of the Thirtieth Kingdom".

IN Once again remembered the character in 2009 - the inimitable presented Baba Yaga in the "Book of Masters". And three years later, " Real fairy tale”, where Yaga again became kind, performed by Lyudmila Polyakova.

To date, the film "" (2017) has become the final attempt to place a fabulous old woman in the cinema. In a magical directorial fantasy with elements of comedy, she acted as a powerful healer.

forest witch with light hand filmmakers and animators turned out to be also a great singer. The first song of Baba Yaga (video) was performed on the screens by Valentina Kosobutskaya in the film " New Year's adventures Masha and Viti.

• The village of Kukoboy Yaroslavl region in 2004, despite criticism from the Russian Orthodox Church, proclaimed the birthplace of the forest old woman. To attract tourists, the Baba Yaga Museum was assembled here, which hosts programs with fun adventures in the company of loved ones. fairytale heroes. In the domain of Yagi begins " anomalous zone”- those who cross the border of the museum territory, their phones cease to catch the connection. The hospitable hostess gives tea and pies to the visitors, especially tasty food on her birthday - June 26th.

• The fairy-tale production of "The Last Bogatyr" became the third Russian film by the Disney studio. Opened this unusual list tape "The Book of Masters", then removed "Happiness is ..."
• "The Last Bogatyr" quickly topped the rating of rental leaders. For two weeks of showing the picture in cinemas, it was possible to collect more than 1 billion rubles.
• The authors of fairy tales do not always build Baba Yaga's hut in a real forest. So, in the "Book of Masters" the house of the sorceress was built right on the territory Belarusian Museum folk architecture and life.

• Creators Russian organization in the fight for consumer rights "Piggy Against", inventing the name, they repelled from the famous cartoon of 1979, where the phrase: "But Baba Yaga is against!"
• The role of Baba Yaga Georgy Millyar in the fairy tale "Morozko" (1965) was performed for the eighth time. In addition, in the same picture, the actor reincarnated as a robber and gave his voice to a rooster.

Quotes

“Fu-fu, it smells like a Russian spirit!”

“Fly, fly! That's what the right ecology means, and I was going to move from here. For such a plot, go, they can give two dachas.

"Oh, I feel bad! Oh, and bad! I don't have a fever, I don't have a cold! It is not sickness that destroys the poor old woman, it is evil malice that destroys, strangles the orphan! Oh, I can't sleep! I can't even eat! Oh, the uninvited Grandmother Yaga offended the guest!

"Oh, don't make noise! I must sleep in front of the guests in order to be fresh and beautiful.

“I am unforgiving - I will take revenge and forget. It’s just that revenge needs to be thought out in a more original way, otherwise they completely unbelted. ”

"The scoundrels do not like to die quickly and quietly, they need scope and maximum noise."

“We will not take Baba Yaga from outside. Let's educate in our team." (feature film "Carnival Night")

"There the stupa with Baba Yaga goes, wanders by itself." (A.S. Pushkin, "Ruslan and Lyudmila")

August 2016

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Where does Baba Yaga live?

If you ask where Santa Claus lives, everyone will answer: "In Veliky Ustyug." But where Baba Yaga lives - he will think about it. Either the character is negative, or she really climbed so far into the dense forest that she could not be found. And this fabulous grandmother lives in the village of Kukoboy, Yaroslavl Region.

And the character, by the way, is not so negative and wow, what an interesting one! Some scholars even describe theories of the origin of Baba Yaga. It turns out that she didn’t fry the children in the oven at all to eat, but only “baked” in the dough - this is how babies were treated for rickets and other diseases before. And in one of its meanings, the ancient Slavic “yagat” just means “burn”. And Baba Yaga is also a guide to "parallel" worlds, and no Ivan Tsarevich would ever have found his Vasilisa and saved him from Koshchei the Deathless, if Grandmother had not shown him the way.

Apparently, the inhabitants of the village of Kukoboy could not pass by such a bright and ambiguous character, so in 2004 they settled Baba Yaga in their forest, in a hut on chicken legs, which really turns its back to the forest, and to the people in front, and on it you can even ride with the wind.

Getting to Babushka is not easy - four hours by car from Yaroslavl through dense forests and roads. Grandmother has settled down over the decade, made friends for herself - Leshy, Kikimora and the Bear, who help her meet and entertain guests.

Come to Kukoboy! You will be met there Russian beauties, feed pies and tell interesting stories about the village, which has its own, ancient, history, and its fabulous inhabitants. And Baba Yaga herself with her friend Leshim will make you fly on a broomstick, dance and dance, and only then will they let you out of their possessions.

Ekaterina KURAKINA

Pants Daria

Fairy tales are loved by everyone: both adults and children. They have a lot various miracles. But has anyone thought about who Baba Yaga is and how she got into a fairy tale?

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project work of a 4th grade student of the municipal educational institution of the village of Semyonovka, Fedorovsky district, Saratov region Shtana Darya Where does Baba Yaga live?

Fairy tales are loved by everyone: both adults and children. They have many different miracles. But has anyone thought about who Baba Yaga is and how she got into a fairy tale? Why does she eat small children? Why does she live alone in a dark forest? Who invented it? Is this a fictional character? I decided to learn more about it and find answers to my questions. Hello! I am a student of the 4th grade of the municipal educational institution of the village of Semyonovka Shtana Daria

To achieve the goal, I set the following tasks: * learn from additional literature about Baba Yaga; * conduct a survey on the topic of work among students; * read Russian folk tales in which Baba Yaga acts; * analyze the image of Baba Yaga and draw conclusions. The purpose of my work: to analyze the image of Baba Yaga in Russian folk tales and draw a conclusion about its essence.

Object and hypothesis: suppose that Baba Yaga - fictional character Russians folk tales. Subject and research: Russian folk tales Research methods: reflection and reading books, survey, analysis of results Student survey I conducted a survey among students (26 students participated in the survey) in grades 1-5 and asked them to answer the following questions: 1. Who is Baba Yaga? 2. How do you imagine her? 3. Where does she live? 4. What does he do? 5. What does a bony leg look like?

The results of the students' survey are as follows: Baba Yaga is a fictional character, a witch, a sorceress, an evil grumpy old woman, an elderly woman, an old woman with a broom. They represent her as angry, angry, bad, aggressive, nervous. She lives in the forest in a hut on chicken legs, in a hut in a swamp. He is engaged in the fact that he flies in a mortar, spins yarn, eats children, brews a potion, conjures, goes to visit the goblin. The bone leg of Baba Yaga is made of bone, looks like a skeleton, it is magical, wooden.

Baba Yaga - mythological creature From the encyclopedia, I learned that a fairy tale is always preceded by a myth. Baba Yaga is famous character Slavic fairy tales. The prototype of Baba Yaga is the Slavic goddess of death: a woman with a snake tail, who guarded the entrance to the underworld and escorted the souls of the dead to the kingdom of the dead. In almost all fairy tales, Baba Yaga has a bone leg - an attribute of death (the leg of a dead man or a skeleton), so it can be assumed that Baba Yaga is one-legged. Baba Yaga is of snake origin. At first, Baba Yaga crawled like a snake, then she began to jump on one leg, later she began to ride in a mortar on the ground and only finally rose into the air with the mortar - thus, she turned into a purely fairy-tale character.

The image of Baba Yaga in Russian folk tales The name of the tale The habitat of Baba Yaga Appearance Baba Yaga Magical things in fairy tales and other miracles Animals serving Baba Yaga Positive or negative character "Geese - swans" .. there is a hut on a chicken leg, turning around itself ... ... a sinewy muzzle, a clay leg .. Golden apples Mouse, geese-swans Negative, because it kidnaps children to eat “The Frog Princess” ..there is a hut on chicken legs, it turns around itself ... ... teeth are on the shelf, and the nose has grown into the ceiling ... Tangle _____ Positive, as it gives advice on how to defeat the enemy (Kashchei) "Baba Yaga" There is a hut in the forest, and Baba Yaga sits in it. Baba Yaga - bone leg Scallop, towel Cat, dogs, bulls Negative, because she wanted to eat the girl

"Baba Yaga and Zamoryshek" Far away on a steep mountain Baba Yaga - a bone leg (has 41 daughters) Magic handkerchief, fire shield. _____ Negative, because “Vasilisa the Beautiful” wanted to kill all the brothers In the dense forest, around the hut there is a fence of human bones, skulls with people’s eyes stick out on the fence In a mortar rides, drives with a pestle, a broom sweeps the trail Dolly, three horsemen (white, red , black); three pairs of hands. _____ Positive, because she helped Vasilisa by giving her fire (a skull with burning eyes) “The Tale of Rejuvenating Apples and Living Water” Three Baba Yagas (sisters) ... A hut on chicken legs, about one window ... a silk tow mosque, and throws threads through the beds ... living water, rejuvenating apples Magic horses Positive, as she gave advice on how to find water and apples "The Enchanted Princess" of Three Baba Yaga. At the eldest there is a hut and then ... one pitch darkness, nothing to see Baba Yaga - a bone leg, old, toothless. The carpet is an airplane, the boots are runners, the hat is invisible. _______ Positive, because she helped find the princess

General conclusions I have read seven Russian folk tales, which spoke about Baba Yaga and independently analyzed the image of Baba Yaga. In all fairy tales, Baba Yaga plays an important role. Heroes sometimes resort to it, as to last resort, the last helper. But in fairy tales, she either helps or not. Analysis of the research results My research showed that Baba Yaga is a fictional fairy-tale character who: knows fate * punishes, destroys people * a witch * “feels with her heart” * gives a ball (guiding thread) * is connected with fire * lies on the stove * knows fire (eyes of skulls) * morning, day, night are subject to her (white, red and black horsemen) * mistress of beasts * swan geese serve her * hut on chicken legs (semi-animal appearance) * lives in dense forest * wild animals serve her * connected with death and the underworld * kidnaps and eats children and people * the fire given by her can kill * connected with night, darkness * she is always old, half-skeleton (bone leg) * she is blind, does not see , but smells with his nose (“it smells of the Russian spirit”) * is associated with air element* whistles (whistling is associated with the wind) * raises the wind with a broom * flies on a mortar