Alrund

**Alrund** is the blue-aligned god of Wisdom and the Cosmos from Kaldheim. He sometimes disguises as the human **Asi**.

## Description

Alrund appears as an bald, old man with one eye and a grey beard. He has a Cosmic raven, Hakka, who flies into all realms to collect knowledge. Depending on his mood, Alrund wavers between distinct personalities. When he's pondering something important, he is distant and speaks only in insufferable, maddening riddles. But when he's happy and relaxed, he is excellent company: an accomplished storyteller and entertainer who loves a good feast.

### History

Alrund was born wise, but that meant he was wise enough to know that he didn't know everything. So, in his youth, he undertook a quest to become the wisest being in all the realms. When the Cosmos monsters came into being, all the secrets of the world—including events that had not yet happened—were locked away inside their minds. By making every Cosmos monster submit to him one by one over the course of centuries, Alrund was able to take their secrets from them. Much to his disappointment, this long quest did not make him truly omniscient, enlightening as it was. Kaldheim still holds secrets he hasn't learned.

While Alrund was on his quest to ﬁght every Cosmos monster, he discovered an orphaned baby in a giant eagle's nest on Axgard. Alrund adopted the baby as his son and named him Halvar, but he was too preoccupied with his quest to take the boy back to the Gods' Realm at the time. He left the boy as a ward of the dwarf king for twenty years, until he remembered to come back for him as promised.

Alrund lived with Cosima for many years, and they had three children together: Toralf, Birgi, and Kolvori. Jorn is Alrund's brother.

Hurrik, the founder of the Beskir clan, once saved the god's life. As thanks, Alrund gifted the Feltmark to Hurrik and his descendants, who include Sigrid, and gave them his protective blessing.

In disguise as a mortal named Asi, he joined up with Inga Rune-Eyes and the planeswalker Kaya to hunt an extremely dangerous monster that already had caused destruction on the plane. This turned out to be none other than Vorinclex, one of New Phyrexia's praetors. Reaching the forest of Aldergard, the party engaged Vorinclex who almost managed to defeat them if not for Alrund revealing himself and using his magic to create a mystical barrier between Vorinclex and Inga's people; the praetor left Bretagard, with Kaya soon following.

Alrund instructed Kaya, Tyvar and the leaders of the human clans that the Sword of the Realms must be given to Halvar, so that the god of battle could end the Doomskar provoked by Tibalt.

## Trivia

* Alrund is based on Odin, the ruler of the Aesir gods in Norse mythology, who sent his ravens Huginn and Muninn to collect knowledge.
* The meaning of Alrund's name is uncertain. It could be a junction of *alla* ("all") and *run* ("lore"), but names ending in *run* with this meaning are female (e.g., Sigrund).
* Mímir can be another deity of knowledge used as inspiration for the character.
* Alrund appears in the teaser for Kaldheim.

## Gallery

* 3D model of Alrund.
* Alrund and Hakka in the Kaldheim teaser.
* Closeup of Alrund.

## In-game references

Represented in:

* Alrund, God of the Cosmos

Associated cards:

* Alrund's Epiphany
* Hakka, Whispering Raven

Depicted in:

* Strategic Planning

## References

1. ↑ Nick Miller (October 20, 2020). "WizKids Announces Third Wave of MTG Unpainted Miniatures". StarCityGames.
2. ↑ Ari Zirulnik (January 8, 2021). "Planeswalker's Guide to Kaldheim, Part 1". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
3. ↑ ***a*** ***b*** ***c*** Roy Graham (January 8, 2021). "Episode 1: Travelers". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.}
4. ↑ Kaldheim Fest (Video). *Magic: The Gathering*. YouTube.
5. ↑ ***a*** ***b*** ***c*** ***d*** Ari Zirulnik and Jenna Helland (January 21, 2021). "The Legends of Kaldheim". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
6. ↑ Roy Graham (February 03, 2021). "Episode 5: The Battle for Kaldheim". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
7. ↑ Mark Rosewater (January 25, 2021). "*Kaldheim* Storytime, Part 1". *magicthegathering.com*. Wizards of the Coast.
8. ↑ Kaldheim Teaser – Magic: The Gathering (Video). *Magic: The Gathering*. YouTube (December 17, 2020).