8-Year-Old Girl Pulls 1,500-Year-Old Sword Out Of Swedish Lake
JÖNKÖPINGS LÄNS MUSEUMThe 1,500-year-old sword.
An eight-year-old girl stumbled upon a 1,500-year-old sword while out swimming in Vidöstern lake near her family’s summer home.
Swedish-American Saga Vanecek was “throwing sticks and stones” while out in the lake when she what she described as “some kind of stick.”
“I picked it up and was going to drop it back in the water, but it had a handle, and I saw that it was a little bit pointy at the end and all rusty. I held it up in the air and I said ‘Daddy, I found a sword!’ When he saw that it bent and was rusty, he came running up and took it,” Vanecek recounted.
Her father, Andy Vanecek, initially brought the find to neighbors and colleagues whom he felt would know something about the artifact. They suggested the find was likely authentic and should be turned over to experts.
Andy VanecekThe wood and leather handle of the sword.
The 34-inch sword was sheathed in a holster made of wood and leather. Expert Mikael Nordstrom of the local Jonkoping County museum aged the sword at 1,500 years old and claims that it is well preserved, although, he said: “We are very keen to see the conservation staff do their work and see more of the details of the sword.”
Nordstrom says it could be another year before conservationists are able to uncover any more clues from the sword.
As for Saga, she has since been dubbed the ‘Queen of Sweden’, as an allusion to the story of King Arthur who became royalty once he was able to free the sword Excalibur from the Lady of the Lake.
