Hi Carlos,
I am no expert on this type of sword but do have some expertiese on snakes. I believe what we see on the hilt is a constrictor snake about to swallow a gecko. The hilt shows very good observation on the part of the artist. It depicts the typical body postion of a constrictor snake that has coiled round a gecko or such other lizard and is about to commence swallowing which takes place head first since this way the limbs of the gecko do not interfere with the swallowing process. The presence of eyelids in the prey and the head shape indicate a gecko and not a second snake. Hope that is useful. It is certainly an interesting sword. Does the hilt design have some talismanic value?
