LOTR: The Rings Of Power's Opening Credits Were Inspired By Tolkien's Works

gamerant.com:

It turns out that the team behind The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power took inspiration from J.R.R. Tolkien's works for an unexpected aspect of the series: the opening credits. Many fans watching the Prime Video series may have been a bit confused at the more subdued vibe of the credits sequence compared to similar shows. But apparently, it wasn't just an off-the-cuff decision.

A rather clever Lord of the Rings fan recently pointed out that the intricate runes seen in the intro to the Easter egg-laden The Rings of Power bore a striking resemblance to a real-world phenomenon known as Chladni figures. Essentially, it refers to the idea of making sound visible to the eye (also called cymatics), which can be seen best when bombarding sand with certain audio frequencies. Anyone who's been to some sort of science center type of place has likely seen this in action, with designs and shapes seemingly forming out of nowhere in piles of sand. Sure, it's fascinating knowing that the designers took cues from a rather thematically appropriate merging of science and art. But the significance goes even deeper than that.

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Alexander King, the fan who pointed this out on Twitter, apparently caught the eye of someone involved with the process. Anthony Vitagliano, the creative director in charge of the team who made the opening credits (Plains of Yonder), replied with gratitude and a link detailing exactly where their inspiration came from. Not only did the team reference cymatics and Chladni figures to add an air of authenticity, but they used that as an extension of what they were really aiming for. Just like the rest of the series, they wanted to draw a direct line to things written by Tolkien