Why didn't Sauron sense Bilbo in Mirkwood?

I'm re-reading The Hobbit, and it says that Bilbo had on the ring for over a week while in Mirkwood, the same forest where Sauron was living. Why didn't he sense Bilbo and go to Thranduil's palace? Frodo seemed closest to discovery when he was wearing the Ring and close to Sauron. When Frodo put on the Ring in Mordor for a second, Sauron realized what had happened. And yet Bilbo was wearing it for a long period of time not very far away. For some reason Gollum under the mountains was not detectable, but surely Bilbo could have been. Unless... did Sauron vacate Dol Guldur before they were captured? I don't think it says exactly when that has happened, but I could be wrong.

well, i have no idea what "Unless... did Sauron vacate Dol
Guldur before they were captured?? means since i'm still reading lotr..........Maybe Bilbo was to near elves. When Gildor and his friends were coming, thst blasck rider dude turned around. So maybe the Nazgul are afraid of elves and possiblly spiders..

Perhaps Bilbo was too far away; Sauron was too weak; the White Council may already have dispatched Sauron by this time... At this time, Sauron didn't know the One Ring had been found, so he wasn't concentrating his thought on trying to locate it on a living person; he was searching the Gladden Feilds. When Frodo put on the Ring in Mordor, Sauron was expecting someone (Aragorn) to come along with the Ring, so perhaps this heightened his senses.
Also at the time The Hobbit was written, Bilbo had a magic ring that made him invisible; it was not yet the One Ring. Sure Tolkien went back and changed the Gollum chapter when he decided to make it The Ring, but maybe he overlokked this detail, or he decided not to change TH too much.

I don't see it as a problem. First, Sauron was occupied with other matters when Bilbo was wearing the Ring in Mirkwood. Second, Bilbo was a good 350 miles away from Dol Guldur, in an enchanted forest where elves dwelt. It would be very hard to pick up the signal under those circumstances, in contrast to the situation with Frodo, when he was not only much closer, but within Sauron's own realm. Sauron also sensed the Ring when Frodo wore it on Amon Hen, but only when Frodo's attention was focused on the Dark Tower. Obviously Bilbo was not conscious of the 'Necromancer' or Dol Guldur when he wore the Ring.
So I just don't find any real inconsistency there, at least nothing that can't be adequately explained within the basic 'rules' of Middle-earth and the Rings of Power.

QB....I should have told you about Entmoot long ago.

not properly on topic, but a question has jumped into my mind and i cannot remember the answer: when did Sauron begin to suspect that the Ring had been found?

for many years he assumed as everybody that the One had been lost forever. he didn´t try to find it. what were the first hints that made him guess that the Ring had reappeared?

i cannot remember if it was Gollum who told him about the Ring or if he was alrady suspecting something when he captured Gollum?

not properly on topic, but a question has jumped into my mind and i cannot remember the answer: when did Sauron begin to suspect that the Ring had been found?

for many years he assumed as everybody that the One had been lost forever. he didn´t try to find it. what were the first hints that made him guess that the Ring had reappeared?

i cannot remember if it was Gollum who told him about the Ring or if he was alrady suspecting something when he captured Gollum. Can anybody help?

In Unfinished Tales there is a chapter called "The Hunt for the Ring" which details the Black Riders' movements. It begins with the statement that Gollum was captured in Mordor in 3017 and brought before Sauron for questioning. I believe this was the first Sauron heard of Hobbits and the Shire. Also Gandalf says at the Council of Elrond that because of Gollum's capture, "the Enemy knows now that the One has been found, that it was long in the Shire..." This statement implies that this was first time Sauron heard of the finding of the Ring.

Also, it is in chapter 1 of the book!

Chapter 2.

okey, okey, ii had forgotten it

thanks!

Back to the previous topic, I believe that Sauron didn't sense Bilbo for a few reasons. One, he's probably not as capable of sensing it as the Black Riders. I know that's a strange thought, but bear with me. They actually are constantly wearing Rings of Power and are linked to the lost one in a very special bond. Sauron made the Ring, and he can sense it, but he isn't actually linked to it in that very special way. Remember, Sam put on the Ring right outside Shelob's Lair at the very edge of Mordor, and Sauron didn't sense him. But the Ringwraiths are constantly being drawn after him. Plus, he wasn't as powerful as the Necromancer as he was as Sauron in Mordor. And as some of the other people said, he didn't know the Ring existed, he didn't have the Ringwraiths under his command to help him, and he pretty much only held sway in and on the borders of Mirkwood.

it was at that time that the white concil attack Dul Guldur to drive the necromancer out

Hey guys, listen to Quickbeam. One has it right and the rest just muddying the stream. :rollin:

I think the best answer is this: his stronghold was being assailed by The White Council, and by the time Bilbo took to wearing the ring for so long he was far up in Northern Mirkwood in Thranduil's halls, and Sauron's forces were being turned into chutney before his eyes. He was being driven out of the place when Bilbo put used the Ring.

So he was being assailed in battle and Bilbo was far away. Also, since he didn't know the Ring was found yet he wouldn't be searching for it.

Actually Sauron was searching for the ring. That is why he had his stronghold in sourthern Mirkwood. It was close by the Vales of Anduin, the last known whereabouts of the Ring of Power.

Where did you learn that?

Logic and inference from things said during the Council of Elrond and statements in other portions of the books. I don't think it is said outright.

There might be something along those lines in Unfinished Tales; I know I've seen it somewhere before!

Sauron's reasons for selecting Amon Lanc in southern Greenwood for his new fortress in the Third Age are never given. At the very least Mordor was held against his return by Gondor. Amon Lanc was probaby fairly deserted at the time, and being in the midst of a huge forest it wasn't likely to be under anyone's watch.

It may be that the Ring helped to draw him back to its vicinity.

Sauron had no reason to sense Bilbo, however. As Quickbeam pointed out Sauron only noticed Frodo on two occasions. The first time was when Frodo wore the Ring on Amon Hen. He was looking at visions of events transpiring in the world around him and when he let his gaze fall upon Barad-dur Sauron became remotely aware of him. That is, Sauron didn't know exactly what was going on, so he began seeking. Gandalf interceded and helped Frodo take the Ring off before Sauron's "vision" or whatever found him.

On the second occasion Frodo had claimed the Ring. At that point, with the Ring in Ordruin, Sauron couldn't help but be aware of Frodo.