In order to properly assess Manwë's character, you first have to remember that one can make mistakes knowingly and unknowingly. Based on that, I disagree with oblo when he writes that Manwë was infallible; at the same time, Manwë is shown as someone who would never do anything "naughty" on purpose.
Having said that, I would also like to state my personal belief that all of Manwë's actions, mistakes included, were all meant to be. This would include the summons, and the disastrous results that followed. Did Tolkien not write that evil and mistakes were all done toward the same final purpose of good (whether or not the doer of said deeds, Morgoth/Melkor for example, knew it) ? That's what I walked away from the Silmarillion with.
[ December 25, 2002: Message edited by: Lush ]
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~The beginning is the word and the end is silence. And in between are all the stories. This is one of mine~
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