Can we start a sentence like this?

Question

Lost after his death and found long after that, the ring got into the hands of Frodo Baggins by a twist of fate.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

AnonymousCanStartSentence/xnlbj/post.htm (missing image)

Lost after his death and found long after that, the ring got into the hands of Frodo Baggins by a twist of fate.
I wouldn't recommend it.
Since Frodo Baggins is the only one "his" can refer to, and since the "person" that "his" refers to is long dead;
the "twist of fate" must have occurred prior to the death.
This leaves the reader hopelessly confused.

As usual, the absence of prior context puts everything into limbo.

If you wish to use a sentence like this, you should precede it with something to correctly identify the person who has died.

In the proper context, the sentence would be fine.

When we begin a paragraph with, "Lost after his death and found long after that," it sounds like we're talking about his corpse.

Both the ring and the deceased must be on the reader's mind when he confronts this sentence.

Can we start a sentence like this?

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