British Library expert says it's actually an illustration to tie in with the Biblical story of Samson, but it's not known who the

A green-skinned figure in a medieval manuscript may look very 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 bizarre 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 cloaked creature with long, spiky hands and protruding pointy ears - just like the fantasy character.

‘The Yoda image comes from a 14th century manuscript known as the Smithfield Decretals,’ British Library curator Julian Harrison told MailOnline.

‘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.

Dr Harrison said it is simply a whimsical addition to the page, which also includes other strange human-animal hybrids.

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, NPR reported.

So the biblical character, or ‘Yoda’ made his appearance in a collection of papal letters and church decrees in the precious volume, which can be viewed in its entirely online.

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

The biblical character, or ‘Yoda’ made his appearance in a collection of papal letters and church decrees in the precious volume, a page of which is shown above. The character is simply a whimsical addition to the page, which also has other bizarre human-animal hybrids