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A green-skinned cloaked figure in a medieval manuscript may look to familiar to Star Wars fans.

The ink illustration appears to show the Jedi knight Yoda on the pages of a religious document.

But in fact, the drawing is part of a strange representation of the Biblical story of Samson, one expert claims.

A green-tinged cloaked figure in a medieval manuscript (pictured) bears more than a little resemblance to Yoda from the Star Wars films, but is in fact a part of a strange representation of the Biblical story of Samson

The drawing shows a green-tinted creature in a flowing robe, with long, spiky hands and protruding pointy ears - just like the Star Wars character.

'The Yoda image comes from a 14th-century manuscript known as the Smithfield Decretals,' British Library curator Julian Harrison told NPR.

'I'd love to say that it really was Yoda, or was drawn by a medieval time traveller, but it's actually an illustration to the biblical story of Samson — the artist clearly had a vivid imagination!' the curator of the museum's medieval manuscripts blog said. 

The Yoda like image comes from a 14th-century manuscript known as the Smithfield Decretals. A model of the popular Star Wars character is shown

According to the biblical account, Samson was given supernatural strength by God in order to combat his enemies and perform heroic acts such as killing a lion, slaying an entire army with only the jawbone of an ass and destroying a pagan temple.

But he had two vulnerabilities - his attraction to untrustworthy women and his hair, without which he became weak and powerless.

These vulnerabilities ultimately proved fatal for him in the story of Samson and Delilah.

However, it's not clear which character 'Yoda' is meant to be in the tale.

The manuscript that appears to bear the sci-fi character's image is also known as the 'Decretals of Gregory IX with gloss of Bernard of Parma' and was painstakingly written and illustrated in France between 1300 and 1340.

So the biblical character, or 'Yoda' made his appearance in a collection of papal letters and church decrees in the precious volume.

It also includes a bizarre image of a rabbit shooting a leaping dog with a bow and arrow. 

No-one is suggesting that the image of Yoda influenced the popular films in any way, but according to Star Wars folklore, Yoda is 900 years old – in the films shot in the late 1970s.

So if it were him in shown in the book, it would have been a 'portrait' drawn when the character was approximately 260 years old.

The trailer for Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens has now been released and shows Hans Solo, played by Harrison Ford, who appeared more than 30 years ago as the character in The Jedi Returns.

The eagerly anticipated film directed by JJ Abrams is set for release on 18 December and features original trilogy actors Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher who played Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia.

This is a more traditional image of the story of Samson, painted in 1630 by Anthonie van Dyck. The tale goes that Samson is given supernatural strength by God and does great acts, but he loses it when his hair is cut off and dies a violent death

AND YOU CAN TWEET STAR WARS CHARACTERS FROM TODAY

From today, Star Wars fans will be able to tweet using new emojis exclusive to the social network.

Three emojiis have been introduced: showing C3PO, a Storm trooper and a new droid.

From today, Star Wars fans will be able to tweet using new emojis (pictured) exclusive to the social network

They have been rolled out in anticipation of the release of Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens.

To tweet a Star Wars emoji, users must include hastags: #C3PO, #STORMTROOPER or #BB8 which will be transformed into little cartoons.