This photo taken in July 2018 and released by the Jonkopings lans Museum on Friday, Oct. 5 2018 shows a pre-Viking era sword in Jonkopings, Sweden. Mikael Nordstrom of the local Jonkoping County museum says 8-year-old Saga Vanecek was helping her father with his boat in the Vidostern lake when she stepped on an 85-centimeter (34-inch) sword in a holster made of wood and leather, believed to be about 1,500 years old. (Photo: Annie Rosen/Jonkopings lans Museum via AP)

Her name conjures up Old Nordic tales about heroic accomplishments and that’s exactly what Saga this summer did when she stumbled on a pre-Viking-era sword in a southern Sweden lake.

Saga Vanecek, 8, was helping her father with his boat in the Vidostern lake when she stepped on an 85-centimeter (34-inch) sword in a holster made of wood and leather. The sword is believed to be about 1,500 years old.

Mikael Nordstrom of the local Jonkoping County museum said Friday that the little girl’s find prompted others to seek out long-lost treasures in a lake that had been diminished by drought.

A broach from between 300 to 400 A.D. was eventually found.

Nordstrom said archaeologists are trying to understand why the items were there. For sacrificial purposes is one suggestion.