: I've recently been of the opinion that the Rings' effective range was limited, but it may be that, like gravity (though I doubt Tolkien would have compared the Rings to gravity), their power may have diminished but not wholly vanished as the distance from the Ring increased. Hence, perhaps the Rings were helping to hold back change in Gondor in small ways.

I on;y disagree with your point at the very end. I don't think the Elven Rings hed back change in Gondor. Slowness of change was present in ME long before the rings of power came to be. I always say the slowness of change as just the "way things are" in the ages during the ascendancy of the Quendi. In a sense the Earth reflected the Elves, or vice-a-versa.

However, change does com emore quickly during the ascendancy of Man. I don't think this has to do with the destruction of the One Ring and the loss of power of the Three. Rather, I think it represents the underlying sea-change occurring now than Man is fully in charge. As Tolkien said in a note in one of his letters, the passing of ages occured more quickly during the time of man. Thus even though years had passed since the beginning of the Fourth Age, today we'd be in the 7th or 8th age.

Russ