its simple: you dip the tip into ink and then write...like a pen!
wikipedia says:
A quill pen is made from a flight feather (preferably a primary) of a large bird, most often a goose. Quills were used as instruments for writing with ink before the metal dip pen, the fountain pen, and eventually the ball point pen came into use. The hand-cut goose quill is still a superior calligraphy tool, providing a sharp stroke and flexibility unmatched in steel pens. The shaft of the feather acts as an ink reservoir and ink flows to the tip by capillary action.
Common writing equipment in medieval times were the quill and parchment or paper. The quill eventually replaced the reed pen. The quill pen was introduced around 700 A.D. The strongest quills were those taken from living birds in the spring from the five outer left wing feathers. The left wing was favored because the feathers curved outward and away when used by a right-handed writer. Goose feathers were most common; swan feathers were of a premium grade being scarcer and more expensive. For making fine lines, crow feathers were the best, and then came the feathers of the eagle, owl, hawk and turkey.
2007-01-22 17:30:39
·
answer #2
·
answered by nick_theprizefighter 3
·
1⤊
0⤋
very carefully!! haha
you just dip it in ink and write, so its not real tough... i've always thought it would be cool to own a quill :-P
2007-01-22 18:12:00
·
answer #3
·
answered by defy gravity! 3
·
0⤊
0⤋