Year

Noel was celebrated anew, shouted full often.

And afterwards the great ones ran about to take Hansel, called aloud for New Year's gifts.

Ladies laughed full loud, though they had lost.

And he that won was not wroth, that may ye well trow.

But because the fame of this people is lifted up so high, and thy town and thy men are held the best, the stoutest in steel gear on steeds to ride, the whitest and the worthiest of the world's kind, and proved opponents in other proper sports, and here courtesy is known as I have heard tell, it is this that has enticed me hither certainly at this time you may be sure by this branch that I bear here that I pass in peace and seek no quarrel for if I had set out with a company in fighting fashion I have a hammock at home and a helm both a shield and a sharp spear shining bright and other weapons to wield I wean well also but since I wished no war my weeds are softer now if thou these bold as all men tell thou wilt grant me graciously the game that i ask arthur knew how to answer and said sir courteous knight if it is battle thou cravest thou shall not fail of a fight here nay i demand no fight in faith i tell thee there are but beardless children about on this bench If I were hasped in arms on a high steed, there is no man here to match me.

Their might is so weak.

Therefore I crave in this court a Christmas game, for it is Yule and New Year, and there are many galops.

If there be a man in this house who holds himself so hardy, and is so bold, in his blood, so rash in his head, that he dares stiffly strike one stroke for another, I shall give him as my gift this rich gizarm, this axe that is heavy enough to handle as he likes, and I shall abide the first blow as bare as I sit.

His vocabulary is limited, but his tongue is easygoing, and let's fly a strange jargon spiced with stray Danish derivatives and a host of curious accents.

Let us hie away then into Broadland, taking our first glimpse and impressions with the New Year's advent, when the cold north winds whirl the plumy snowflakes hither and thither, and the leafless reed stems rustle strange music as the gusts of winter sway them to and fro.

And the erstwhile tranquil waters of the Broad are flinging foam-tipped waves into their midst, or maybe when the merry skaters glide to and fro upon its glassy surface, and the starving coot, at his wit's end, has flown to the nearest estuary in search of needful sustenance.

Today, we have found its waters locked quietly in the embrace of the frost sprite.

Start from today if you like.

I'm sloggin' hard in among the reeds just now, and have been off and on since Christmas, when the weather has let me." What do they do with the reeds? Why, use 'em for thatchin' mostly.

Years ago, afore laths was rived and sold for plasterin', we used to make a better figure on 'em than we do today.

Lor'! Times ain't noways like as they was long years ago.

And we start here with the author of a new book called Esther's Army, the Christian Women Who Power the American Right.

The author, Katie Godini, is a former evangelical Christian who was once a registered Republican.

Now she's a sociologist who researches right-wing Christian women in particular.

I first asked her to talk about herself a little, where and how she grew up as it relates to her research for the book.

And they also themselves advocate for women being in the public sphere and are vocal about not being trad wives.

Dominic in the Bronx.

You're on WNYC with Katie Godini, author of the new book Esther's Army, The Christian Women Who Power the American Right.

Hello, Dominic.