The hilt of the sword, the Grand Master’s Palace and Armoury, Valletta, Malta. As it is visible in the photo, the hilt consists of a guard, handle, and pommel. The pommel is a detail, which was originally developed to prevent the sword from slipping from the hand, at the top of the handle. The pommel serves as a primary counterweight to move the balance point across the blade of the sword for different purposes, depending on the armour the sword would be fighting against. For example, in case, when fighting against the full plated armour, making the pommel heavier and thus moving the balance point closer to the hilt made the tip of the sword easier to thrust into the weaker non-plated parts of the armour. Also, sometimes the pommel was used as a hammer when the wielder held the sword by the blade, swang it, and struck the opponent during the fighting