Baba iaga

It was the forest of a Russian fairy tale, where one might suddenly meet the lean Kastchei, or the Baba Iaga or some other fantastic creature of Russian folklore.

On the pretext of helping me with my math homework, Anastasia arranged to meet with me in the hall alcove, and there, in the aura of clandestine trysts, she told me fables of golden fish, beautiful czarevnas, nightingales, and the terrifying machinations of Baba Iaga.

[T]he presence of the ogress the Baba Iaga may reflect a goddess cult associated with death and the underworld.

[W]hat really marks out the Russian wondertale is its stylistic ornamentation and its range of frightening ogres. Of the latter the best known is the Baba Iaga, no ordinary witch, but, it would seem, mistress of the animals and guardian of the other world, and hence connected with death.

Stalin’s dress implies the possibility that he is androgynous. This implication appears to be underscored by an association made in [Ivan] Chonkin’s dream between Stalin and Baba Iaga. Halimur Khan has astutely pointed out the passage’s folkloric subtext: Stalin “flies” down to confront Chonkin, and his pipe and rifle are analogues of Baba Iaga’s mortar and pestle.

They all lived in a little hut on chicken legs and they were not uncomfortable. Baba Iaga did not care for visitors, so when anyone approached, the chicken legs would move in a circle, turning the house so that the visitor could not find the door.