Tinfoiling about the Oath again, but
when you think about it. Earendil (AKA the guy who ends up with a Silmaril) doesn't really fall into any of the categories of people-who-cannot-touch-a-Silmaril as per the Oath.
Not a friend obviously (SoF murdered his hometown) but not a foe either (*still* came to beg the Valar to help everyone including SoF. This is not a foe behavior.)
not foul (ofc) but, listen to me please, before you start yelling, not clean. Morally he's ok (unless we see him through the lens of Aldarion-like abandoning his family for the sea but that's not even relevant here as I will explain) he's "foul" in the more ancient sense.
Not morally but not purely physically either, he's just... unclean because he comes from the race of Men, to explain it in the shortest way. The Silmaril could have as well burned him. He is banned from touching the mortal land again, and i don't think it's a punishment in the modern sense. I don't think Earendil made a morally bad decision. And yet, he broke a rule. And there is some serious discussion on whether he should be killed for this.
There is solid evidence that he does not fall under the "be he clean" cause.
obviously not a Vala or Morgoth-spawn or Maia, we can ignore this part
A half-elf isn't really an Elda. Nor an Aftercomer. He's neither.
So, in conculsion, Earendil sailing is like that "not dressed nor naked etc" prophecy and then you have a guy in a fishing net with one of his feet on a goat...
Hmmm, didn't I make this post before?
Anyway I know that the SoF would kill him if they could, they just weren't there. This observation isn't about them. It's about fate and the Oath being somewhat like a prophecy --- prophecies and curses and oaths aren't very distant from one another.
I don't think this was in Tolkien's mind when writing, but I still find it funny how Earendil is like the guy wearing a net. I like fate shenanigans.
(And then he pleads to the Valar and he's counted as "both" not "neither" for the sake of argument. Which is even cooler than the fairytale of a guy in a net. And then the Valar let him chose who he is, which makes a lot of sense.
Half-elves are fun. And I like fairytale-style loopholes a lot. :) )
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