1-4. Týr's amma "grandmother" has nine hundred heads. We know of a six-headed giant, offspring of Ymir's feet, from Vafþrúðnismál 33, and a three-headed one from Skírnismál 31, but nine hundred heads seems a bit of an exaggeration even for a giantess, not unlike the league-deep cauldron in stanza 5! We will meet more multi-headed giants in stanza 35. In stark contrast, Týr's mother is quite pleasantly white and golden, and we instantly feel that the grandmother is paternal rather than maternal. We are not exactly told that Týr's mother is of giant descent - for all we know she might be an ásynja married to a giant (as suggested by Hollander, see stanza 5). However, giant maidens can be quite extraordinarily beautiful, like Gerðr, Freyr's beloved.

6-7. algullin "all-golden" is used of Iðunn's apples in Skírnismál 19, while brúnhvít "with white eyebrows" is an hapax, but compare the almost identical bráhvít "with white eyeleashes" in Völundarkviða 39. We find a similar colour scheme in Hárbarðsljóð 30, where a lady is both línhvít and gullbjört "linen-white and gold-bright".

Translation notes: Hollander and Terry seem to feel that the grandmother's heads aren't loathsome enough, and add unnecessary adjectives: "swart" (Hollander) and "ugly" (Terry). Terry makes Týr's mother "welcome the Æsir", which seems a bad idea, as she herself may be a giantess, and addresses Týr as "scion of giants" in the next stanza.