Why do the wood-elves capture the dwarves and not Bilbo in The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien?
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The dwarves were captured by the wood-elves in Mirkwood shortly after Bilbo had rescued them from the spiders. Bilbo was not captured at the time because he was wearing the magic ring he won from Gollum. The ring made the wearer invisible. Here is what happened:
Bilbo attacked the spiders that were tying the dwarves up in their webs. By shouting at them and throwing a couple of stones, Bilbo led the spiders away from the dwarves, still wearing his ring. Then he craftily returned back to the dwarves to release them from their bonds. Shortly thereafter the Mirkwood elves surrounded and took all the dwarves prisoner, excluding Bilbo, of course, because he still wore the magic ring. Fortunately for the dwarves, Bilbo remains unseen, because eventually he will help them escape the Elven King's dungeons.
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