Translation for [竜とは逃げぬものなれば]

Question

new in the language so I am having a hard time figuring out the meaning of this sentence. 'When it comes to dragons, you can't escape' would be my translation, but pretty sure I am wrong. If it doesn't take too much time, please give me a brief explanation about the grammar. Thanks a lot!

Answer 1

This sentence is using the grammar of classical/archaic Japanese. This sentence can be translated to modern Japanese as 竜とは逃げないものなので or 竜とは逃げないものですから.

• 竜: "dragon"
• とは: quotative と + thematic は, used to give a definition or an important characteristic of something. See: Use of とは when there doesn't seem to be comparison
• 逃げ: "escape", the 未然形 ("irrealis form") of 逃ぐ, which is an archaic version of 逃げる
• ぬ: "not", the 連体形 ("attributive form") of ず, which is an archaic negation marker (≒modern ない)
• もの: "thing", "existence"
• なれ: "is", the 已然形 ("realis form") of なり, which is an archaic copula (≒modern です/だ)
• ば: "because", an archaic reason marker (≒modern ので/から)

竜とは逃げぬものなれば。
(It's) because a dragon is an existence that does not escape.
(It's) because dragons won't escape (from you).