 This claim is corroborated by the geographical distribution of runestones throughout Eastern Norway, but there is not enough linguistic or philological evidence to strongly support it.Whether or not a linguistic link can be made, however, it is likely that the runemasters in Norway during the Viking Age would have formed an upper class due to their portrayal in ruins as near the top of the social hierarchy but still subservient to the chieftain.Towards the middle of the 11th century, the practice of carving runes that depict figures in Norse mythology decreased, and instead traditional religious imagery began to hybridize with Christian imagery.