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Allen Blutelfen könnte das gleiche Schicksal wie ihn ereilen, sollten wir unserem Verlangen gänzlich erliegen.

I just want to make sure. because from what I know from Hammer's Grammar and Usage this could be the only case for starting with a verb pretty much and it's not something else (text taken from a fantasy environment tbf)

thanks

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  • Just an interesting side note: the same usage exists in older English texts, although it now feels slightly archaic: "Had we left yesterday, our travel would have been far less troubled."
    – Joymaker
    Commented May 24, 2023 at 13:03
  • TBF means "to be fair" by the way. You should keep in mind that many (if not most) of the regulars here are not native speakers of English, so it's a good idea to spell out internet/texting abbreviations: imo, fwiw, btw, etc.
    – RDBury
    Commented May 24, 2023 at 20:10
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    The quote seems to show a grammatical error or typo: ereilen requires an accusative object, therefore the sentence should start with Alle.
    – guidot ♦
    Commented May 25, 2023 at 6:01

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Yes. It means the same thing as "... wenn wir unserem Verlangen gänzlich erliegen sollten". It is possible to do that, although it is a lot more common to do it when the subordinate clause comes before the main clause.

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  • The order with the yes/no clause appended is less common but more atmospheric.
    – Janka
    Commented May 23, 2023 at 19:27
  • You can translate "sollten" as "should" with no change in meaning here: "All blood elves could meet the same fate, should we fully succumb to our desires. It sounds old fashioned in English, the type of thing you might hear in high fantasy. I don't know how it sounds in German though. As noted below, "had" also works, but only in past tense.
    – RDBury
    Commented May 24, 2023 at 20:26

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