Long live, Queen Matilda!
Girl Pulls Sword From Legendary Lake Of King Arthur’s Excalibur
Matilda Jones, from Norton, Doncaster, with the sword. A schoolgirl could become a thing of legend after pulling an historic sword from the same Cornish lake where King Arthur’s Excalibur was famously thrown. See ROSS PARRY story RPYSWORD. Little Matilda Jones. Aged seven, came home with the perfect holiday souvenir after stumbling across the sword which is the same height as her. She found the 4ft long metal blade while paddling in waist deep waters at Dozmary Pool on August 29. Proud dad Paul Jones, 51, had only told Matilda and her sister Lois, four, about the legend of King Arthur moments before the discovery during a six-day holiday in Cornwall. The 51-year-old, from Doncaster, south Yorks., predicts that the sword is probably around 30 years old and was used as an old film prop.
Matilda Jones, from Norton, Doncaster, shows off a mighty sword that she found at the bottom of a lake where King Arthur’s said to have returned his Excalibur.
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.
The 7-year-old was swimming around the lake last week when she spotted the sword on the ground.
“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.
Paul and Matilda Jones, of Norton, Doncaster with the sword.
According to legend, King Arthur ordered his sword be tossed into the lake before his death.
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.
The sword discovered by Matilda Jones, from Norton, Doncaster.
The sword isn’t believed to be very old, however. Matilda’s father suggested that it may be a movie prop.
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.