Baba Jaga, Горска майка

Sama nazwa etymologicznie może pochodzić od prasłowiańskiego słowa „jęga” i oznaczać grozę czy męczarnię (stąd już prosta droga do współczesnej jędzy).

The name can come from the pre-Slavic word ‘jęga’ and mean terror and torment (from there there’s a short way to today’s common word jędza – shrew/hag).

W mitologii słowiańskiej, stara leśna kobieta-czarodziejka, wiedźma. Według opowieści wschodnich i zachodnich Słowian Baba Jaga mieszka w lesie w „chacie na kurzych nogach”, pożera ludzi; ogrodzenie wokół chaty wykonane jest z ludzkich kości, na ogrodzeniu czaszki, zamiast rygla – ludzka noga, zamiast zamków – ręce, zamiast zamka – usta z ostrymi zębami. Dzięki ludowej epopei obraz Baby Jagi sprowadził się do nas w wielu mitach i legendach, tak jak go malowali nasi przodkowie.

In Slavic mythology, an old woman-sorceress that lives in the woods, witch. According to the East and West Slavs, Baba Yaga lives in the forest in the hut on chicken legs. She eats people. The fence around her hut is made from human bones, on the fence there are skulls, instead of a bolt – human leg, instead of locks – human hands, instead of a lock lips with sharp teeth.

She is said to be a link between the world of the living and the dead. She is also known for the initiation rituals for the youth. Baba Yaga in multiple stories helps the protagonist and is known for her smarts. However, later statements depict her as the one that eats children. This trope became the one that we all know from tales. From almost a godess she became a queer beast of the forest. One that we should be afraid of.