“Great was the court in the hall of Loön, The tables were full of fowl and venison, On flesh and fish they feasted every one; But Guillaume of these viands tasted none, Brown crusts ate he, and water drank alone. When had feasted every noble baron, The cloths were removed by squire and scullion. Count Guillaume then with the king did thus reason: ‘What thinketh now,’ quoth he, ‘the gallant Charlon? Will he aid me against the prowess of Mahon?’ Quoth Loéis, ‘We will take counsel thereon, To-morrow in the morning shalt thou conne, If aught by us in this matter can be done.’ Guillaume heard this⁠—black was he as carbon, He louted low, and seized a baton, And said to the king, ‘Of your fief will I none, I will not keep so much as a spur’s iron; Your friend and vassal I cease to be anon; But come you shall, whether you will or non.’ ”

He is said to have been taken prisoner and carried to Africa by the Moorish King Tobaldo, whose wife Arabella he first converted to Christianity, and then eloped with.