England’s got a new Queen ― that is, if Excalibur’s legend is true.
A 7-year-old girl in Cornwall, England, is making news after reportedly pulling a four-foot sword out of the same lake that King Arthur’s Excalibur blade is said to have been tossed.
Matilda Jones was swimming around Dozmary Pool in Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, on Tuesday, when she caught sight of the shining metal beneath the water’s surface, The Sheffield Star reported.
“She was only waist deep when she said she could see a sword,” Matilda’s father, Paul Jones, who was with her at the time of the discovery, told the Star.
“I told her not to be silly and it was probably a bit of fencing, but when I looked down I realized it was a sword. It was just there laying flat on the bottom of the lake,” he said.
Coincidentally, the discovery came just after Matilda’s father said he told his two young daughters, Matilda and her four-year-old sister Lois, the legend of King Arthur while vacationing from Doncaster.
According to one version of the ancient story, Excalibur was presented to him by the Lady of the Lake. The powerful sword, which carried magical powers, could only be possessed by the rightful sovereign of Great Britain.
After being mortally wounded, the king ordered the sword be thrown back into the lake, where it was caught by a hand emerging from the water.
Could Matilda’s sword be a thing of history and lore? Her father suspects not.
Though its discovery makes for a pretty cool story, he estimated that it’s only 20 to 30 years old.
“It’s probably an old film prop,” he suggested.
