āStrange women lyinā in pondsā¦ā and other Dennis the Anarcho-cynical (not a typo) Mud-Farmer quotes notwithstanding, Iād like to think the Lady of the Lake would select the new āRightwise King (Monarch) Born of All Englandā by providing something better than a mass-produced and discontinued Spanish SLO.
Maybe this was a trial (though not dry) run - if so, Matilda and her Dad should get back to Cornwall / Kernow ASAP.
Although on second thoughts, last time a Matilda laid claim to the English throne there was civil war and anarchy. In fact there was THE Anarchy, which made for a good novel by George Shipway (āKnight in Anarchyā, what a surprise) but by all accounts wasnāt a lot of fun otherwise.
(The ārightwise king born of all Englandā business was on the Sword in the Stone (and anvil, everyone forgets the anvil) which apparently wasnāt Excalibur at all. A war memorial, perhaps, as T. H. White suggested. What the Lady of the Lake was waving about was a different sword entirely, and the really important bit was its scabbard, which granted invulnerability, or undefeatability, or a reliable broadband signal 24/7ā¦)
Maybe the one in Dozmary Pool was lost during some Arthurian re-enactment - or maybe it was deliberately chucked away by someone whoād hoped for something better on their birthday, because when I saw what Matilda foundā¦
ā¦I recognised it as thisā¦
Noble Collection sells movie merchandise nowadays, but back then they sold decorative wall-hangers (SLOs - sword-like objects - is the less kindly term) made by Marto of Toledo among others, with frequently-spiky fantasy blades, ornate cast pot-metal handles and ooh-shiny! gold plating. However their version of āExcalibur" - itās there on the cover - looked sensible enough to feature in the TV movie āThe Librarianā.
Though the catalogue calls the sword found by Matilda a āmedieval two handed swordā itās based, more or less, on a Renaissance āFederschwertā sparring blunt (the flare above the guard was balance-compensation for not having a full-width blade.)
Not especially Arthurian, whether Arthur was Clive Owenās Romano-Sarmatian, Oliver Tobiasās Dark Age Celt or Nigel Terryās High Middle Ages Anglo-Brit.
Apparently there are now also synthetic Federschwert from various sources.
At least they wonāt rust when chucked into ponds. The Lady of the Lake likes low maintenance as much as anyone elseā¦
