The omitted "it be"

Question

Kolvir is a mountain the castle of the city Amber is sitting on.
The protagonist, his brother Bleys and their soldiers are ascending the narrow staircase leading into the top of Kolvir in a row.

We struggled on and the rains came down. The way grew steeper, more slippery. A quarter of the way up Kolvir we met with a column of armed men descending. The first of these traded blows with the leaders of our vanguard, and two men fell. Two steps were gained, and another man fell.
[Nine Princes in Amber" of The Great Book of Amber by Roger Zelazny]
I'd like to know "It was" is omitted before "the first."
Thank you in advance for your help.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

park sang joonI'd like to know "It was" is omitted before "the first."

No. That would be a different construction.

The first ... traded blows with ...
It was the first ... who traded blows with ...

There is no reason to use the second of these two constructions.

CJ

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, Mr.Jim, for your so kind answer.

I think "The first of these traded blows with the leaders of our vanguard" is a noun phrase.
So I was wondering if we can connect a noun phrase and a clause by "and."

CalifJim · Answer

park sang joonI think "The first of these traded blows with the leaders of our vanguard" is a noun phrase.

No. It's a whole sentence. I think you are parsing it incorrectly. The subject is "the first of these" ~ "the first of these men" ~ "the first man among them" (the ones referred to in the previous part of the text). The verb is "traded".

"traded blows" means "exchanged blows". One struck the other; the other struck back. They fought with their fists or swords or whatever they had.

park sang joonI was wondering if we can connect a noun phrase and a clause by "and."

You can, but that's irrelevant now that you understand the structure better. I hope.

CJ

The omitted "it be"

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