Sidney Lanier. The Boy's King Arthur: Being Sir Thomas Malory's History of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table.
“The legend of Excalibur may have originated from the ancient Celtic tradition of casting precious items, including swords, into pools or lakes as offerings to a water goddess. Many such items have been discovered by archaeologists in the beds of dried-up lakes across Europe. For example, almost 200 such votive offerings – including swords - have been found at Llyn Cerrig Bach, a lake in Anglesey, North Wales. The Romans documented that such practices were believed to bring good fortune. They even adopted the custom themselves by tossing coins into springs and ponds, eventually giving rise to the tradition of wishing wells. The Romans also noted that British Celts would cast warriors’ swords into lakes as part of a funerary rite as offerings to a goddess, a very similar theme to the story of Arthur's sword being thrown to the mysterious water nymph, the Lady of the Lake, as the king lies dying.”
