Baba-yaga

Japanese: ヤガーばあさん（英語表記）Baba‐yaga

A forest witch who appears in Slavic folk tales and folk beliefs. Her literary sources date back to the 12th century. In lubok (popular prints), she is depicted astride a pig, and in the Russian folk calendar, she is said to gather with other monsters on the Barren Hills of Kiev at the time of the summer solstice. The image of this witch is most vivid in folk tales. The old woman lives in a forest hut that stands on chicken legs and is surrounded by a fence of human bones, and turns around and opens the door when the protagonist calls out to her. Blind and with one bony leg, Granny Yaga is a helper who gives the protagonist advice, food, and gifts such as a magic horse and a ball of thread.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

スラブの昔話や民間信仰に登場する森に住む妖婆。文献では12世紀にまでさかのぼることができる。ルボーク(民衆版画)では豚にまたがる姿で描かれ，ロシアの民間歳時暦では他の妖怪とともに夏至の時期にキエフのはげ山に集まると伝承される。この妖婆のイメージは昔話の中で最も鮮明である。老婆の住む森の小屋は鶏の脚の上に立ち，周囲を人骨の柵が囲み，主人公の呼びかけで向きをかえ扉を開く。骨の一本足で盲目のヤガーばあさんは，主人公に助言や食料を与え，魔法の馬や糸玉の贈物をする援助者である。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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