#that it was side effect of the hallowing that got retroactively ascribed more intent and meaning and weight than it was originally meant to

[fangirl-erdariel]

If I had to make a guess - and disclaimer, i've not really checked what Silmarillion says and it's been a while since I read it fully through, and i'm really not familiar at all with anything HoME or other stuff outside Silmarillion may say on the topic, so i really am guessing and trying to reconcile the different bits of knowledge into something that makes sense in my head - the "mortal flesh" bit, as far as there is truth to it, would probably be less specific intentional destruction of any mortal who touches it, and more just that the treelight + the divine power imbued in them is more power than the bodies of mortals were ever designed to be in close proximity to, and is consequently kind of accidentally harmful to them. I also think the burning and withering of mortal flesh in this case isn't similarly immediate and dramatic as the burning of something evil touching the Silmarils, but more slow and unnoticable, but nonetheless sped up, wearing down of the body.

Like, doesn't the Silmarillion imply that Beren and Lúthien died more swiftly as result of the Silmaril coming to their possession again than they might otherwise have? I can't help but wonder if that's where the mortal flesh idea comes from, like yeah, they didn't immediately get their skin burned, but it did kind of figuratively burn out their life or their bodies too quickly anyway, so I could sort of see it justifying that part of the list?

I'll admit that it's a stretch, but it's as much of an in-universe source for the "mortal flesh" thing as i can come up with

The thing about this

"...Varda hallowed the Silmarils, so that thereafter no mortal flesh, nor hands unclean, nor anything of evil will might touch them, but it was scorched and withered"

is that whether or not the part about burning mortals is true or flexible or arbitrary, this has to be something inscribed into lore long after the fact. Varda cannot have hallowed the silmarils and handed them back to Fëanor saying "btw mortals can't touch these now" because the Eldar did not know that mortals would exist yet. The Valar know, but it's Melkor who then reveals the future coming of Men to the Eldar.

So - where does the idea come from that the silmarils burn mortal flesh? Beren is the only known mortal (or Lúthien once she becomes mortal, and then Elwing and Eärendil before they become elves, if you count them) to touch a silmaril, and he does not get scorched and withered, so it's not lore that comes about through evidence. Maybe Varda says later (why? to whom?) that she included mortals among those the silmarils are hallowed against. But were they? If they were, why? And how would this be known? If they weren't, why say so?

One possibility for the latter question could be that the belief that the hallowing applies to mortal flesh is a product of Fëanor's own biases against the secondborn. "No lesser race shall oust us" - perhaps he/those of like mind would think anything with hands unclean must include a lesser race. His increasing possessiveness toward the silmarils comes about at the same time as rumors are spreading about the aftercomers who will usurp the Eldar, so perhaps there is an element of particular jealousy should the aftercomers or anyone also usurp his jewels. Still, it doesn't necessarily make sense that he would hate Men yet unborn enough to start including them in the category of beings his silmarils would burn, as we also don't know how much he or anyone really knew or thought about the hallowing and what it would do. Still seems worthy of note that Varda's initial hallowing (which I have separate and critical thoughts on, but that isn't the point here) might not necessarily have singled out mortal flesh, or at least if it did, that cannot have been communicated to any Eldar at the time.