Baba Yaga, also spelled Baba Jaga, in Slavic folklore, an ogress who steals, cooks, and eats her victims, usually children. A guardian of the fountains of the waters of life, she lives with two or three sisters in a forest hut that spins continually on birds’ legs. Her fence is topped with human skulls. Baba Yaga can ride through the air—in an iron kettle or in a mortar that she drives with a pestle—creating tempests as she goes. She often accompanies Death on his travels, devouring newly released souls.