After a fight with bandits, I went up the river and found this, I'm not sure if it'll be the same weapon for everyone, the one I got was a Ebony Warhammer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbVG3SAFhJ8&feature=g-upl

The weapon was leveled. It wont be same weapon for everyone.

Not far from Whiterun (northwest?), there's a skeletal hand in the water, holding a sword. I'm sure it's leveled, but it's typically a dwarven or orcish sword when I see it.

I've never seen the sworn in the lake as anything other than Orcish. As for the OP, random loot is everyone. One rule: always look behind waterfalls. Or anything else. How many people are aware that the final chamber in Bleak Falls Barrow has three loot chests for instance? That's not including the one in the tunnel out. In the lake outside the upper entrance to Darkwater Pass there's a skeleton on the bottom, chained to a rock. It has a high level weapon and shield. Just explore everything.

That is an Easter Egg towards the Lady in the Lake holding Excalibur

Its levelled, i purposely left it there to see what would happen, and i think a dwarven sword turned into a glass sword. sixy.

true, i was disappointed because when i saw it i thought sweet, excalibur! oh just another dwarven blade yay (sarcastic mental voice)

I got an ebony sword once.

You could always enchant a sword and call it Excalibur

@Kaiden Yea I got that sword, for me it was a glass sword, my cousin showed me that one

Ahhhh... the Lady in the Lake.

OP, it's an easter egg giving props to the legend of King Arthur. I always seem to fins an Elven Sword there.

There's another in the reach that's an easter egg for the sword in the stone and the lover stone or the lady stone( the birth sign stone that's in the middle of a lake ) is supposed to represent the lady of the lake

@carrots Where exactly is the other easter egg?
@Uriel Nocturne I think why you get an Elven sword is because of your level