Baba Yaga: Witch, Villain, or Something Else?

To me, Baba Yaga has never been just a witch. She is something far older and far more complex. I see her almost as a goddess, a keeper of balance who exists somewhere between life and death.

She is often portrayed as a frightening old woman living deep within the forest, inside a mysterious hut standing on chicken legs. In many stories, travellers seek her help without knowing whether she will guide them, test them, or devour them. She may offer wisdom in one tale and destruction in another.

That unpredictability is what makes her so fascinating.

Baba Yaga does not belong entirely to the world of the living, but she is not one of the dead either. She stands at the edge of the Veil, helping souls cross from one world into the next. She can bring death just as easily as she can restore life. She may create suffering, but she can also provide the knowledge needed to end it.

Her actions may appear cruel, yet they are never without purpose. Baba Yaga does not serve good or evil. She serves the natural order, regardless of the cost. To her, life cannot exist without death, peace cannot exist without chaos, and creation cannot happen without sacrifice.

In my retelling of Koschei the Deathless, Baba Yaga plays a complicated role. She is not evil, even when her choices help create it. She is not kind, even when she restores peace. She does not rescue people simply because they deserve saving, nor does she punish them only because they have done something wrong.

She sees the larger pattern when everyone else can see only their own suffering.

Her choices influence Kazimir’s past, Sofiya’s future, and the balance between the worlds of Yav and Nav. At times, she may appear to be an ally. At others, she may seem like the greatest threat of all. The truth is that she is neither.

Baba Yaga is not the villain of the story, nor is she its hero.

She is the guardian standing between life and death, the ancient hand that moves between them, ensuring neither one becomes more powerful than the other.