The Snow-child

The Snow-child is a widespread European folktale,[1] found in many medieval tellings.

[1] A merchant returns home after an absence of two years to find his wife with a newborn son.

She explains one snowy day she swallowed a snowflake while thinking about her husband which caused her to conceive.

[2] A Medieval play about the Virgin Mary has characters disbelieving her story of her pregnancy citing the tale.

[2] It contrasts to Aarne-Thompson type 703*, Snow Maiden, where a child really has a magical snow-related origin.