A seven-year-old school girl had a legendary holiday after pulling a giant four-foot sword from the Cornish lake where Bedivere threw Excalibur.
Matilda Jones was wading through water waist-deep at Dozmary Pool when she stumbled across the blade underwater.
According to folklore, Dozmary Pool is the spot where Bedivere returned Excalibur after King Arthur was fatally wounded in the Battle of Camlann...
Schoolgirl has legendary holiday after pulling 4ft sword from Cornish lake 'where Arthur's Excalibur was thrown' (good job she's named after a famous English queen)
Matilda Jones found the sword in Dozmary Pool during a family trip to Cornwall
Legend claims Bedivere returned Excalibur to lake after Battle of Camlann
But family believe sword is only around 30 years old and likely to be film prop
By Alex Matthews For Mailonline
3 September 2017
A seven-year-old school girl had a legendary holiday after pulling a giant four-foot sword from the Cornish lake where Dedivere threw Excalibur.
Matilda Jones was wading through water waist-deep at Dozmary Pool when she stumbled across the blade underwater.
According to folklore, Dozmary Pool is the spot where Bedivere returned Excalibur after King Arthur was fatally wounded in the Battle of Camlann
Matilda Jones was wading through water at Dozmary Pool in Cornwall when she stumbled across a four-foot sword
It is said to have been accepted by the Lady of the Lake, whose arm mysteriously rose from the water to received the fabled blade.
Ironically, her father Paul Jones, 51, had recounted the story of King Arthur to Matilda and her sister Lois, four, moments before the discovery.
Mr Jones, from Doncaster in South Yorkshire, said: 'It was a blistering hot day and Matilda asked if we could go for a paddle.
'She was only waist deep when she said she could see a sword.
'I told her not to be silly and it was probably a bit of fencing, but when I looked down I realised it was a sword. It was just there laying flat on the bottom of the lake.
'The sword is 4ft long - exactly Matilda's height.'
The giant blade is exactly Matilda's height and her father believes it may have been left in the lake while a film was being shot there
Legend has it that King Arthur first received Excalibur from the Lady of Lake in Dozmary Pool after rowing out to receive it.
After being mortally wounded he asked to be taken there so he could return the sword to her.
After three attempts, his loyal follower Bedivere cast it into the water and the Lady of the Lake's arm rose to receive it.
The pool, in the civil parish of Altarnun on Bodmin Moor, was said to be bottomless until droughts in 1859 and 1976 dried it out completely and revealed it is, in fact, a shallow pond.
According to British legend, Dozmary Pool is where King Arthur rowed out to the Lady of the Lake and received the sword Excalibur. The pool is also the place where Bedivere returned Excalibur as Arthur lay dying after the Battle of Camlann
Matilda shares her name with Empress Matilda, the daughter of King Henry I and heir to the English throne in the 12th century.
While it may be exciting to believe a young girl with such a regal name has written her own chapter in the Arthurian legend, her father thinks the sword's origins are more recent.
Mr Jones said: 'I don't think it's particularly old. It's probably an old film prop.'
Queen Matilda: Heir to the throne
Empress Matilda was the daughter of Henry I, King of England.
She moved to Germany as a child and later married Holy Roman Emperor Henry V in 1114, when she was just 12 years old.
The union produced no children and the Emperor died in 1125.
But the death of her brother in the sinking of the White Ship off Normandy in 1120 made her the heir to the throne of England.
In 1127 she married Geoffrey of Anjou, who would later become Duke of Normandy, and had three sons.
However, female rulers were unpopular at the time and her cousin Stephen of Blois had himself crowned King of England.
Matilda's claim to the throne was supported by her half brother, Robert of Gloucester and uncle, David I of Scotland.
Matilda and Robert landed at Arundel, West Sussex, in September 1139 and England was thrown into civil war - The Anarchy
After two years of fighting, Stephen was captured at Lincoln and Matilda took control of England.
But she was not a popular ruler and was never awarded a coronation.
Stephen was later released in exchange for Robert of Gloucester and the civil war waged on.
But Robert died in 1147, leaving a grief-stricken Matilda to return to France.
Her son Henry took up the fighting, but was also forced to flee across the Channel.
He was crowned King Henry II of England after the death of Stephen's son Eustace in 1154. He was the first Plantagenet king
Source: BBC
Read more: Schoolgirl pulls 4ft sword from Cornish lake | Daily Mail Online
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Matilda Jones was wading through water waist-deep at Dozmary Pool when she stumbled across the blade underwater.
According to folklore, Dozmary Pool is the spot where Bedivere returned Excalibur after King Arthur was fatally wounded in the Battle of Camlann...
Schoolgirl has legendary holiday after pulling 4ft sword from Cornish lake 'where Arthur's Excalibur was thrown' (good job she's named after a famous English queen)
Matilda Jones found the sword in Dozmary Pool during a family trip to Cornwall
Legend claims Bedivere returned Excalibur to lake after Battle of Camlann
But family believe sword is only around 30 years old and likely to be film prop
By Alex Matthews For Mailonline
3 September 2017
A seven-year-old school girl had a legendary holiday after pulling a giant four-foot sword from the Cornish lake where Dedivere threw Excalibur.
Matilda Jones was wading through water waist-deep at Dozmary Pool when she stumbled across the blade underwater.
According to folklore, Dozmary Pool is the spot where Bedivere returned Excalibur after King Arthur was fatally wounded in the Battle of Camlann
Matilda Jones was wading through water at Dozmary Pool in Cornwall when she stumbled across a four-foot sword
It is said to have been accepted by the Lady of the Lake, whose arm mysteriously rose from the water to received the fabled blade.
Ironically, her father Paul Jones, 51, had recounted the story of King Arthur to Matilda and her sister Lois, four, moments before the discovery.
Mr Jones, from Doncaster in South Yorkshire, said: 'It was a blistering hot day and Matilda asked if we could go for a paddle.
'She was only waist deep when she said she could see a sword.
'I told her not to be silly and it was probably a bit of fencing, but when I looked down I realised it was a sword. It was just there laying flat on the bottom of the lake.
'The sword is 4ft long - exactly Matilda's height.'
The giant blade is exactly Matilda's height and her father believes it may have been left in the lake while a film was being shot there
Legend has it that King Arthur first received Excalibur from the Lady of Lake in Dozmary Pool after rowing out to receive it.
After being mortally wounded he asked to be taken there so he could return the sword to her.
After three attempts, his loyal follower Bedivere cast it into the water and the Lady of the Lake's arm rose to receive it.
The pool, in the civil parish of Altarnun on Bodmin Moor, was said to be bottomless until droughts in 1859 and 1976 dried it out completely and revealed it is, in fact, a shallow pond.
According to British legend, Dozmary Pool is where King Arthur rowed out to the Lady of the Lake and received the sword Excalibur. The pool is also the place where Bedivere returned Excalibur as Arthur lay dying after the Battle of Camlann
Matilda shares her name with Empress Matilda, the daughter of King Henry I and heir to the English throne in the 12th century.
While it may be exciting to believe a young girl with such a regal name has written her own chapter in the Arthurian legend, her father thinks the sword's origins are more recent.
Mr Jones said: 'I don't think it's particularly old. It's probably an old film prop.'
Queen Matilda: Heir to the throne
Empress Matilda was the daughter of Henry I, King of England.
She moved to Germany as a child and later married Holy Roman Emperor Henry V in 1114, when she was just 12 years old.
The union produced no children and the Emperor died in 1125.
But the death of her brother in the sinking of the White Ship off Normandy in 1120 made her the heir to the throne of England.
In 1127 she married Geoffrey of Anjou, who would later become Duke of Normandy, and had three sons.
However, female rulers were unpopular at the time and her cousin Stephen of Blois had himself crowned King of England.
Matilda's claim to the throne was supported by her half brother, Robert of Gloucester and uncle, David I of Scotland.
Matilda and Robert landed at Arundel, West Sussex, in September 1139 and England was thrown into civil war - The Anarchy
After two years of fighting, Stephen was captured at Lincoln and Matilda took control of England.
But she was not a popular ruler and was never awarded a coronation.
Stephen was later released in exchange for Robert of Gloucester and the civil war waged on.
But Robert died in 1147, leaving a grief-stricken Matilda to return to France.
Her son Henry took up the fighting, but was also forced to flee across the Channel.
He was crowned King Henry II of England after the death of Stephen's son Eustace in 1154. He was the first Plantagenet king
Source: BBC
Read more: Schoolgirl pulls 4ft sword from Cornish lake | Daily Mail Online
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