[Anguirel]

I'm pleased with this particular alternative to lynching Nogrod, Manwe - pretty much the one I was after. I am struck by the actual paucity of evidence against him but that's pretty hard to avoid right now.

I suppse this is where the "useful ghost" argument does attract some currency - given I've seen Nogrod is more vocal and detailed, and I've no damning suspicion on either him or Manwe, why shouldn't I prefer him in Mandos? The answer is shoddy, negative, and pusillanimous but I will admit it. The Shasta - Nogrod affair looked way too familiar for comfort.

(It's just occurred to me, in that unsettling suddden way that these things do, that if they're both wolves, well, they're doing well)

In contrast Manwe adopted a silent assassin position throughout much of today, then ended up joining the fray in a tone of preemptive snapping that reminded me of lupine false confidence I've seen before. He's much more likely to be wrong than right, but he feels the best I have to go on and less inevitably innocent than Nogrod. Have we been faced immediately with the classic dichotomy: a useful ghost or a lurking wolf? If so I have to stick to my stated tack, by choosing the latter.

++ MANWE

(also the Feanorian in me smirks at the idea of lynching one who bears the name of that smug Vala!)