Yaga

Yaga (Baba Jaga) is a witch or ogress from Slavic folklore who lives in a magical hut in the forest and either helps, imprisons, or eats people (usually children). She is among the most famous figures from Slavic folklore as guardian of the fountains of the waters of life and is sometimes seen as embodying female empowerment and independence.

Her name is often understood to mean "Grandmother Witch", though this is challenged and there is no universal agreement on the meaning of Yaga. She is first mentioned in a book on Russian grammar in 1755 but is thought to have existed in the oral tradition of Slavic folktales much earlier. Although she is usually the villain of any piece she appears in, she can also offer assistance and is understood as more of a trickster character who encourages transformation than the stock figure of an evil witch.

Baba Yaga is probably best known from the story Vasilissa the Beautiful in which she inadvertently frees the heroine from the tyranny of her stepmother and stepsisters but also figures in other famous tales such as The Frog Princess and Baba Yaga and the Kind-Hearted Girl in which she is cast in a similar role. A number of her tales follow the paradigm of the Cinderella story where she plays the part of the Fairy Godmother but with a decidedly sinister twist.
Vasilissa the Beautiful
Baba Yaga as trickster is most clearly defined in the most famous of her tales, Vasilissa the Beautiful. Vasilissa lives happily with her mother and father until she is eight years old when her mother falls ill and calls her to her deathbed, giving her a magical doll to help her through life. She must always keep the doll with her, a secret from everyone else, and offer it food and drink whenever she faces some challenge in order to receive help. After her mother’s death, her father marries a woman with two daughters who is envious of Vasilissa’s beauty and abuses her, giving her harsh tasks, which her father can do nothing about since he is away on business trips. Vasilissa is only able to accomplish these tasks through the help of her doll.

Once Vasilissa and her stepsisters reach the age of marriage, the stepmother refuses all of Vasilissa’s suitors, telling them she cannot be married until her older sisters find husbands. In hopes of getting rid of Vasilissa, her stepmother keeps sending her into the woods on errands: