The Story of the Serpent’s Tongue:

The Serpent’s Tongue has long been known throughout Illantul as the fearsome blade wielded by the captain of the iron guard who blocked the unworthy from entering to the Temple of Serpents.  It is said that during the height of the temple’s spiritual fervor the Serpent’s Tongue was responsible for bringing death to hundreds of nonbelievers attempting to enter the temple.   But as with all things, the endless winter finally came to pass, and with it so did Illantul’s supplication to the temple and its zealot priests.  The temple fell to disrepair, the iron guard disbanded, and the captain and his blade headed north to become a mercenary in the border wars.  The Serpent’s Tongue proved an equally effective weapon without the influence of the temple and its priests.  Wounds inflicted by the blade never closed up, and all those wounded by its edge would soon succumb to blood lose.   

Actual Design and Construction:

I designed this weapon as a hand and a half sword.  The blade was produced by Hanwei forge using 5160 mar quenched spring steel.  I formed the block of the guard from two pieces of 1/8 inch brass on the larger of which I attached serpent head quillons.  The serpent heads are brass and were crafted by another artist in the Ukraine. The quillons were attached by setting one side of a corby bolt into the underside of the brass head and securing the other side through a hole drilled into the guard.  I etched a figure eight pattern on the guard around the exposed corby heads. The two piece wooden handle is carved from African Blackwood sitting atop a brass riser with a matching brass spacer between the wood pieces.  The brass pommel is a different rendition of a serpent’s head, made by the same artist as the others. There are 1/8 in hardened steel lineup pins through the handle design..  There is a hidden nut (covered by the pommel) on the threaded tang which secures all the handle pieces, completing the sword’s through tang design.

Specifications:

Blade length: 33.5 inches

Overall length: 42.5 inches

Hand grip length: 7.75 inches

Blade width at widest point: 1.5 inches

Guard width: 7 inches

Weight: 2 pounds 12.4 ounces

Balance point: 4.5 inches in front of the guard

 Scabbard Construction:

I constructed the scabbard core from yellow poplar and lined the inside with black felt to protect the blade.  The wooden core is covered with 4-5 oz premium veg tan leather which I tooled with a snake scale  pattern.  It was wet formed over the four risers and hand stitched up the back.  The bulk of the scabbard is stained black with the three sections of inlaid snake scales stained saddle tan.  All of the tooled portions are covered with black antiquing .  The chape is formed from solid brass and was produced by an artist is Spain.