The Jubjub bird is a dangerous creature mentioned in

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

nonsense Nonsense is a communication, via speech, writing, or any other symbolic system, that lacks any coherent meaning. Sometimes in ordinary usage, nonsense is synonymous with absurdity or the ridiculous To be ridiculous is to be something which is ...

poems "

Jabberwocky "Jabberwocky" is a nonsense poem written by Lewis Carroll about the killing of a creature named "the Jabberwock". It was included in his 1871 novel ''Through the Looking-Glass'', the sequel to ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865). The bo ...

" (1871) and "

The Hunting of the Snark ''The Hunting of the Snark'', subtitled ''An Agony in 8 Fits'', is a poem by the English writer Lewis Carroll. It is typically categorised as a nonsense poem. Written between 1874 and 1876, it borrows the setting, some creatures, and eight por ...

" (1876). In "Jabberwocky", the only detail given about the bird is that the protagonist should "beware" it. In ''The Hunting of the Snark'', however, the creature is described in much greater depth. It is found in a narrow, dark, depressing and isolated valley. Its voice when heard is described as "a scream, shrill and high" like a pencil squeaking on a

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

, and significantly scares those who hear it, including the Beaver, who "turn pale to the tip of its tail" Its character traits include that it is "desperate" and "lives in perpetual passion", it "knows any friend it has met once before" and will not "look at a bribe".

Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland

The Jubjub bird appears in

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic fantasy and horror films such as ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), ''Edward Scissorhands'' (1990), ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ...

's 2010 version of ''Alice in Wonderland'' as a giant black bird resembling a cross between a vulture and a speckled chicken with a red head crest, a long yellow beak and a blue tongue. It is first seen when it captures both

Tweedledum and Tweedledee Tweedledum and Tweedledee are characters in an English nursery rhyme and in Lewis Carroll's 1871 book ''Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There''. Their names may have originally come from an epigram written by poet John Byrom. The ...

while trying to escape with Alice. It is not seen again until the Red Queen releases the Jubjub Bird onto a rebellious crowd. During the final battle, after the

Mad Hatter The Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and its 1871 sequel ''Through the Looking-Glass''. He is very often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Car ...

's interference the Jubjub bird joins to fight for the Red Queen, only to later have its head crushed by a giant boulder from a catapult.

Other appearances

The Bluetones The Bluetones are an English indie rock band, formed in Hounslow, Greater London, in 1993. The band's members are Mark Morriss on vocals, Adam Devlin on guitar, Mark's brother Scott Morriss on bass guitar, and Eds Chesters on drums. A fifth me ...

recorded a song titled "The Jub-Jub Bird", which was released in 1998 on their second album ''

Return to the Last Chance Saloon ''Return to the Last Chance Saloon'' is the second studio album by English rock band The Bluetones, released on 9 March 1998. The album is currently certified Gold by the BPI. Its offspring singles were "Solomon Bites the Worm", " If...", "Sl ...

''. The song "Alpenglow" by

Nightwish Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band from Kitee. The band was formed in 1996 by lead songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, guitarist Emppu Vuorinen, and former lead singer Tarja Turunen. The band soon picked up drummer Jukka Neva ...

on the 2015 album ''Endless Forms Most Beautiful'' includes the line "together we slay another fright, every Jubjub bird, spooks of the past". Saydisc Records, in 1978, on SDL294, released 'Parlour Poetry'. All the verse was spoken by

Kenneth Williams Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was an English actor of Welsh heritage. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 Car ...

. Jabberwocky was one of four Lewis Carroll pieces included. 'The Walrus and the Carpenter'; 'You are Old, Father William'; and 'Hiawatha's Photographing', were the others.

References

Lewis Carroll characters Fictional birds Literary characters introduced in 1871 Fantasy creatures Jabberwocky {{child-lit-char-stub