Eight-year-old Saga Vanecek has made an amazing discovery of an ancient relic in Sweden. Photo / Supplied
Eight-year-old Saga Vanecek has made an amazing discovery of an ancient relic in Sweden. Photo / Supplied
Her name conjures up Old Nordic tales about heroic accomplishments and that's exactly what Saga did when she stumbled on a pre-Viking-era sword in a southern Sweden lake.
Saga Vanecek, eight, was helping her father with his boat in the Vidostern lake when she stepped on an 85-centimetre sword ina holster made of wood and leather.
It's official!
With today's press release we can finally reveal what Saga found in Lake Vidösten this summer... a sword...
The sword is believed to be about 1500 years old, reports news.com.au.
"I was outside in the water, throwing sticks and stones and stuff to see how far they skip, and then I found some kind of stick," Saga told The Local. "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," she said.
The Iron Age sword Saga found. Photo / Supplied
Experts are now working to preserve the relic before it's eventually put on display at the Jönköpings Läns Museum.
Saga actually found the sword months ago but the news was kept under wraps so that researchers could have a chance to scour the area for other artefacts before everyone had the same idea.
With the help of metal detectors and divers the search site is searched. Photo / Supplied
Mikael Nordstrom of the local Jonkoping County museum said on Friday that the little girl's find prompted others to seek out long-lost treasures in a lake that had been diminished by drought.
