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The Lecturer in Recent Runes is one of the Faculty of Unseen University - one of the highest level mages on the disc. As such he is a rotund, elderly gentleman with an ability to bicker finely honed by decades of interdepartmental meetings. As a member of the Faculty he has been present at some of the larger catastrophes that have engulfed the Disc and has had some extraordinary adventures. He has featured in many of the books. Here is an indicative quote from The Last Continent:

"Well, I for one have never believed all that business about dead animals turning into stone," said the Lecturer in Recent Runes. "It's against all reason. What's in it for them?"

"So how do you explain fossils, then?" said Ponder.

"Ah, you see, I don't," said the Lecturer in Recent Runes, with a triumphant smile. "It saves so much trouble in the long run."

Presumably, then, spell-creation using Runes is not a dead science - new ones are being discovered/forged/created, which leads to the exciting conclusion that new spells are also being created!

[edit] Annotation

This is a parody of the "Lecturer in Recent Literature" that many Roundworld universities have.

He also appears in the Discworld Game, wearing blue wizard's clothes and has a white beard. He is voiced by Rob Brydon and appears to have an Irish accent.