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Podcast: Bone and Sickle
Episode: The Baba Yaga
Description: This episode explores the Russian witch, the Baba Yaga, tales in which she appears, possible origins, and regional variations on the character.
We begin by retelling one of the skazi (folk tales) in which she’s particularly well-definined, “Vasilisa the Beautiful,” a version recorded in the mid-1800s by the folklorist Alexander Afanasyev, Russia’s answer to the Brothers Grimm, .
Vasilisa, illustration by Ivan Bilibin, 1899
Without spoiling the story, I can say that it bears some parallels to “Cinderella,” with a wicked stepmother and step-sisters grievously imposing on the young Vasilisa and sending her into an encounter...