Is there an inversion in the clause？

Question

The noise was like an English fox-hunt only better because every now and then with the music of the hounds was mixed the roar of the other lion and sometimes the far deeper and more awful roar of Aslan himself. should the clause have been ”because every now and then the roar of the other lion and sometimes the far deeper and more awful roar of Aslan himself was mixed with the music of the hounds.”?

Answer 1

It is true that in ordinary English conversation, we would likely place the prepositional phrase (with the music...) after the verb (was mixed). That does not, however, establish that there's an error in your text. An inversion in word order, which you were sharp-eyed to catch, can be a function of an older style or simply the author's effort to place an important phrase earlier in the sentence or to juxtapose phrases that are best placed together.

Thanks for a good question!