Matilda Jones found the sword in Dozmary Pool during a family trip to Cornwall

Legend claims King Arthur returned Excalibur to lake after Battle of Camlann

But, family believe sword is only around 30 years old and likely to be film prop

A seven-year-old school girl had a legendary holiday after pulling a giant four-foot sword from the Cornish Lake where Arthur threw Excalibur.

Matilda Jones was wading through water waist-deep at Dozmary Pool when she stumbled across the blade underwater.

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According to local folklore, Dozmary Pool is the spot where King Arthur returned Excalibur after being fatally wounded in the Battle of Camlann.

Matilda Jones holding a 4ft sword she found at Dozmary Pool in Cornwall

Paul and Matilda Jones holding a 4ft sword she found at Dozmary Pool in Cornwall

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.

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'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.'

Matilda Jones, from Norton, Doncaster, with the sword she found in Dozmary Pool

Matilda Jones, from Norton, Doncaster, with the sword she found in Dozmary Pool

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, and shallow pond.

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 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 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 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. 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. Source: BBC