Quote:
Originally Posted by Formendacil
Well, breaking it down grammatically:
"There is but one loyalty" = "there is only one loyalty"
"one loyalty from which" = "there is only one loyalty AWAY FROM WHICH" (I emphasize the away, since I think this is the crux of your confusion)
"from which no man can be absolved" = "which, no one leaving can be forgiven"
In other words: There is only one loyalty that you can never be forgiven for leaving--Eru or the Valar, and by saying this Amandil is basically taking the St. Thomas More line: "I am the King's good servant, but God's first," because he is justifying his disloyalty to the King of Númenor by a higher loyalty to Eru and his regents.
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I agree with you completely here,
Formendacil! I think Tolkien may have had St. Thomas in mind, in Amandil justifying his rebellion. Later, when Ar-Pharazôn attacked Valinor, an act Tolkien called one of blasphemy, Elendil and his followers refused their king's summons.