Now for some news that will have you thinking about destiny, fate, reincarnation, previous lives, and fairytales all rolled into one. An 8-year old Swedish-American girl from Minnesota, home of the Minnesota Vikings, traveled to Sweden, and unbeknownst to her whilst playing in a lake, discovered a 1,000 year old pre-Viking era sword that was stuck into the ground under water.
Indeed, this is what ancient fairytales are made of, and it has many locals saying that Saga Vanecek’s discovery of the ancient sword in the Vidöstern lake should have her be crowned queen, as a nod to the tales of King Arthur. Better yet, she should be crowned as a Viking Goddess, like Freya from Norse Mythology. Incidentally, the name “Saga” when translated straight means “story”, and what a story the 8-year old discovered in the form of an ancient sword that will now be preserved for museum display.
In Vidöstern Lake in Tånnö, Småland, Saga was skipping stones on the lake when she stumbled upon something in the water which she thought was ‘some kind of stick’, but it turned out to be a sword dating back more than 1,000 years to the pre-Viking era.
The discovery of the sword was made in Vidöstern lake in Tånnö, Småland, by Saga Vanecek. Credit: DailyMail
Experts estimate that the sword is at least 1,000 years old, and are now working on preserving it before displaying it at the Jönköpings Läns Museum. Nice find! The discovery was made months ago by Saga, but the news was kept under wraps until this week so that researchers could get time to scour the area for other artefacts nearby, as was reported by The Local.
An ancient brooch was also discovered along with an 18th century coin. The family of Saga Vanecek moved to Sweden after leaving Minnesota last year, when she found the 33inch (85cm) sword whilst trying to retrieve a buoy.
Saga explained to The Local, “‘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.”
“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.”
Saga Vanecek found the 1,000 year old Viking sword after her family moved to Sweden. Credit: Facebook
The museum says the sword dates back to the 5th or 6th century, making it one of the oldest swords discovered in recent times. The preservation process could take a few months before it goes on display in a museum.
Mikael Nordström from Jönköpings Läns Museum said, “The conservation process takes quite a long time because it’s a complicated environment with wood and leather, so they have several steps to make sure it’s preserved for the future.”
“Why it has come to be there, we don’t know. When we searched a couple of weeks ago, we found another prehistoric object; a brooch from around the same period as the sword, so that means – we don’t know yet – but perhaps it’s a place of sacrifice.”
Imagine a sword that’s laid untouched for over a 1,000 years at the bottom of a lake, then a Swedish-American child from Minnesota of all places, that’s just moved to Sweden, discovers the sword of a Viking warrior inside the lake, pulling it out and creating a glimpse into the life of the Vikings in the 5th or 6th century.
The sword has experts and locals joking that Saga is direct descendant of the Viking herself. Credit: JonkopingsLansMuseum
Maybe it was an ancient Viking prophecy that one day an 8-year old girl named Saga Vanecek (with some plausible DNA relation to the Vikings from the pre-Viking era), would end up discovering the warriors sword at the bottom of a lake.
Coincidence? Was it written in some old Viking fairytale, or was the story foretold in a prophecy by the swordsman himself? Who knows?
Saga’s father told The Local, “The cool thing is that I’m a huge Minnesota Vikings fan, and this looks just like a Viking sword.”
So there you have it! Is Saga Vanecek a reincarnation of the Viking warrior sent through time to the future to make this Viking sword discovery? Either way, this find makes for a great story, and we can understand why Saga and her family are overjoyed with the revelation of this ancient artefact.
Story by The Narrator
Featured Photo Credit: Tomato Bubble