Yes, a candle is safe, but it will take a lot longer than a couple of minutes.
I suggest that you hold the blade is your hand a few inches away from the area where you apply the heat, and when it gets too hot to hold, try gently twisting back and forth to free the hilt.
There are several possibilities with an old stuck hilt. It might be epoxy , in which case the melting point is likely to be greater than 200 degrees centigrade, which is the most common spec for most common epoxy adhesives. It might be an old fashioned natural resin, which seems to melt a bit easier than epoxy, or it might be rusted on. If it is rusted on you definitely run the risk of breaking the tang, and you are unlikely to know that the tang is about to break until it does. This is a disappointing experience, but it is something that can be fixed no matter how little of the tang is left. Consider this:- if the tang was so rusted that it broke, it needed to be repaired anyway.
If the hilt is really stubborn, it can help if you repeatedly heat it, try to turn it off, allow it cool down, and heat again. Just do it once a day until it lets go.
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