Tolkien sugere que pelo menos Illuvatar planejou: Em 'A Sombra do Passado', Gandalf diz isso:
'It is no laughing matter,' said Gandalf. 'Not for you. It was the strangest event in the whole history of the Ring so far: Bilbo's arrival at that time, and putting his hand on it, blindly, in the dark.
There was more than one power at work, Frodo. The Ring was trying to get back to its master. [...] it abandoned Gollum. Only to be picked up by the most unlikely person imaginable: Bilbo from the Shire!
Behind that there was something else at work, beyond any design of the Ring-maker. I can put it no plainer then by saying that Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and not by it's maker. In which case you also were meant to have it.
Também aqui está o sonho de Boromir que o leva a Rivindell:
Seek for the Sword that was broken:
In Imladris it dwells;
There shall be counsels taken
Stronger than Morgul-spells.
There shall be shown a token
That Doom is near at hand,
For Isildur's Bane shall waken,
And the Halfling forth shall stand.
Portanto, há força mais strong do que Sauron no trabalho aqui, que fez Bilbo encontrar o Anel. Mas a questão ainda permanece de certa forma; nós não sabemos até que ponto a coisa hobbit foi planejada, e mesmo os sábios da Terra-média (Gandalf, Sauron, Elrond (veja a resposta de Jimmy Shelter), etc.) não sabiam realmente sobre isso, Gandalf estava tentando explicar e foi totalmente inesperado para Sauron.