Tolkien consolidated modern fantasy, so he was writing before there were rules for "no frontloading the infodump", and the rule was made because fantasy writers inspired by Tolkien would imitate his frontloading infodump…which didn't always go as well. Even today, for whatever reason, Tolkien's first worldbuilding infodump is still considered interesting to know, whereas imitators of the same writing technique risk boring the reader. But sometimes, without that introduction to key aspects of how the world works, you risk confusing the reader or dragging the pacing out with showing-not-telling.
I think part of that is due to the overlap—or more the lack of overlap—between what the writer is interested in terms of having built the world, and what the reader is interested in terms of being introduced to the world.
If you start with a map of the world, for example, some readers are going to get put off by this obviously going to be another high fantasy book about walking. But other readers, your target audience, are going to see a map of the world and go "I can't wait to find out what that's like when the main characters walk there!"
For me, I think the introduction to the world is more than bearable if the writing style of that infodump is interesting, if the facts themselves are interesting, and especially if they'd have something to do with the story afterwards.
I don't need to know about that country's folk music traditions and textile exports in the beginning if the music will be in the background or the character is only going to adventure to another different country right away.
But if the musical tradition includes sagas about the lost heirs to the throne, and the country is suffering a trade embargo due to war and nobody has new clothes anymore, and the main character will meet that lost heir from the saga, or they study at and academy of magical music…then that all becomes interesting because the introduction to the world helps to build the story.
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