diff --git a/Doc/source/pens/index.rst b/Doc/source/pens/index.rst
index 1ecbcd1c2..0caa286b6 100644
--- a/Doc/source/pens/index.rst
+++ b/Doc/source/pens/index.rst
@@ -2,6 +2,26 @@
 pens: Inspect and manipulate glyph outlines
 ###########################################
 
+.. rubric:: Overview:
+   :heading-level: 3
+
+The fontTools **pens** are a collection of classes that can operate
+on a font glyph via the points and the contours of the glyph's outlines.
+
+Some pens trace through the outlines and generate graphical output,
+such as a new glyph outline or a formatted image, but other
+pens analyze the outlines and return information about the glyph.
+
+Pens that alter or produce a pen-compatile ``ttGlyph`` object can
+be chained together.
+
+New pens can be written by subclassing the ``AbstractPen`` or,
+somewhat more practically, ``BasePen`` classes. The Pen Protocol is
+documented on the ``BasePen`` page.
+
+.. rubric:: Pens:
+   :heading-level: 3
+
 .. toctree::
    :maxdepth: 1