Also called Horned Granny, Baba Jaga (Slovene form).
The tale
In Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Slovenia, Baba Roga is a horned old woman used by parents as a bogey: behave, or Baba Roga will carry you off in her sack. She is the South Slavic cousin of the Russian Baba Yaga, but appears far more in threats than in full tales.
When they are met
- bedtime stories
Staying on their good side
- to stay on her good side: go to bed on time and stay out of the dark woods
Honouring them, or keeping safe
- Tell her stories lightly, so that children are amused rather than terrified.
What their tales teach
- bedtime tales
- understanding how folklore teaches children
Symbols
- a horn
- a sack
- a crooked old woman
She lives mainly in oral nursery warnings, with few collected stories.
Sources
- Š. Kulišić, P. Ž. Petrović and N. Pantelić, Srpski mitološki rečnik (1970)
More Slavic folklore
- Baba Yaga The witch in the hut on hen's legs
- Domovoi The grandfather who lives behind the stove
- Leshy The master of the forest
- Rusalka The maiden of river and birch
- Kikimora The spinner in the dark corner
- Koschei the Deathless The sorcerer whose death is hidden
- Kostroma The straw maiden of spring and summer
- Dodola The rain-bringing girl of summer