There’s something to be said about being at the right place at the right time. Szczepan Skibicki, an employee at the Army Museum in Białystok in northeastern Poland, understands that more than most. He even has a thousand-year-old relic to prove it.
Two years ago, Skibicki decided to go for a swim in the Supraśl River. He knew the area well, given that swimming is one of his hobbies. On that day, Skibicki noticed that an area in the Supraśl that had typically been covered with sediment was now clear. While he swam over the area, he noticed something that shouldn’t have been there. It was a sword.
“Then for the first and last time, I screamed for joy under the water,” Skibicki said in a statement, according to an online translation.
While it wasn’t Excalibur, experts say the sword dates back to the 9th or 10th century. It was likely a weapon used by the Vikings or the Baltic population.
‘This Is a Very Unusual Sword’
After he found the sword, Skibicki wanted to give it to the Army Museum, although that was easier said than done. According to Science in Poland, the legal process to transfer ownership of the sword to the museum took many months. Once the process was completed, the museum started restoration work on the sword.
The restoration, which took five months, included the “painstaking removal of the mineralized coatings so as not to destroy the original form and shape of the sword.”
The Army Museum recently unveiled the restored sword to the public and shared additional details about its history. The museum is working on the possibility of showcasing the sword in an exhibit in December.
"The presented object is certainly unique,” Ryszard Kazimierczak, a conversation specialist at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, said. “We think there is a high probability that there was a fight by the river, a battle and the sword was in the water with its owner.”
Images | Army Museum in Białystok
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