laud
noun. feather
gwaelod
noun. wind feather
pess
noun. feather
pesson
noun. plume, (great) feather
plinn
noun. arrow
quessë
noun. feather
The Quenya word for “feather” and the name of tengwa #4 [z] (LotR/1122).
Conceptual Development: Some similar words appeared in the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s under the early root ᴱ√QASA: ᴱQ. qasil “arrow-feather, arrow” and ᴱQ. qasilla “tuft, nodding spray, tassel, plume” (QL/76); quasil was only glossed “arrow” in the contemporaneous Poetic and Mythological Words of Eldarissa (PME/76). ᴹQ. qesse “feather” first appeared in The Etymologies of the 1930s under the root ᴹ√KWES (Ety/KWES), already the name of tengwa #4 (EtyAC/KWES). It was also the name of this tengwa in notes on the Feanorian Alphabet from the 1930s and 1940s (PE22/22, 51, 61), and remained so into the published version of The Lord of the Rings.
quessë
feather
quessë noun "feather", also name of tengwa #4 (Appendix E, WJ:417, KWES, VT45:24); súriquessë "wind feather" (referring to a "tuft of radiating grass" in a drawing by Tolkien) (J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator, p. 197)
niquessë
noun. frost-patterns; snowflake, ice-flake; (lit.) chill feather
súriquessë
noun. species of grass, (lit.) wind feather
súriquessë
wind feather
súriquessë noun "wind feather" (referring to a "tuft of radiating grass" in a drawing by Tolkien) (J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist & Illustrator, p. 197)
quessehonda
adjective. frivolous; (lit.) feather-hearted
niquis
frost-patterns; ice-flake or snowflake also petal (loose) of a white flower
niquis noun "frost-patterns; ice-flake or snowflake also petal (loose) of a white flower" (stem niquits- or niquiss-), also niquessë by association with quessë "feather" (WJ:417, PE17:168). In early "Qenya", the gloss was simply "snow" (LT1:266).
lúpe
noun. plume
pilin
arrow
pilin (pilind-, as in pl. pilindi) noun "arrow" (PÍLIM)
Beware, older languages below! The languages below were invented during Tolkien's earlier period and should be used with caution. Remember to never, ever mix words from different languages!
pilen
noun. feather
qesse
noun. feather
pilin
noun. arrow, arrow; [ᴱQ.] feather
lúpe
noun. plume
A noun for “plume” from notes on Qenya Spelling from the 1930s, descriptive of a curved tehta sign but probably inspired by (and still applicable to) the plume feather of a bird (PE22/63).
kwes
root. *feather
An unglossed root in The Etymologies of the 1930s whose derivatives had mainly to do with feathers, such as ᴹQ. qesse “feather” and N. pesseg “pillow” (Ety/KWES). Tolkien’s continued use of Q. quessë “feather” in his later writings indicates its ongoing validity (LotR/1122). A possible precursor to this root was unglossed ᴱ√PEKE from the Qenya Lexicon of the 1910s whose derivatives had to do with plumes (QL/73). There is also ᴱ√PILI whose derivatives had to do with arrows and feathers (QL/74), but in later writings ᴹ√PILIN seems to have narrowed in sense specifically to “arrow” (Ety/PÍLIM; EtyAC/PÍLIM).
kwessē
noun. feather
pilin
noun. feather; arrow
qasil
noun. arrow, arrow-feather
pilna
noun. arrow
pecthon
noun. plume, feather
pectha
noun. plume
The word G. pectha “plume” appeared in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s, along with G. pecthon “plume, feather” (GL/63-64), clearly cognates of ᴱQ. pekte “plume” under the early root ᴱ√PEKE (QL/73).
Neo-Sindarin: For many years, Neo-Sindarin writers used ᴺS. pess for “feather” as the analog of word Q. quessë, which Tolkien used in the 1930s-1960s. Hialmr added this Neo-Sindarin word to the VQP (VQP) in 2015, but it was likely floating around for much longer. For “plume”, I would use an augmentative form: ᴺS. pesson “plume, (great) feather”. In 2024, a native Sindarin word S. laud “feather” was published in PE23; see that entry for discussion. Pess “feather” has been a part of Neo-Sindarin for so long that I think it is reasonable to keep using it, but if you want to stick to Tolkien’s own words, laud is probably better.
cwathil
noun. plume
lhinn
noun. arrow
lhind
noun. arrow
plinde
noun. arrow
A Sindarin word for “feather”, attested only its suffixal form -lod in the name gwaelod “wind feather” (PE23/142). It is derived from ✶lauto, so its Sindarin singular form would be ✱laud.