Yoda first appeared on screen in "Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back" in 1980, but the green, pointy-eared swamp creature may have debuted much earlier in 14th century biblical texts.
Julian Harrison, curator at the British Library, first presented the manuscript with the Yoda-like drawing in an interview with The Guardian. Harrison runs the Medieval Manuscripts blog which features the drawing and many other illuminated manuscripts now available to see on the Internet.
"The Yoda image comes from a 14th-century manuscript known as the Smithfield Decretals," Harrison told NPR.
"I'd love to say that it really is Yoda, or was drawn by a medieval time traveler. It's actually an illustration to the biblical story of Samson - the artist clearly had a vivid imagination!"
The volume, created in southern France between 1300 and 1340, is also known as "The Decretals of Gregory IX with gloss of Bernard of Parma." Decretals were papal decrees (or decision) that determined a point of doctrine or church law.
God gave Samson supernatural strength that allowed him to battle his enemies and perform heroic feats. He could kill a lion, wipe out an entire army with the jawbone of an ass and destroy a pagan temple.
His two vulnerabilities were untrustworthy women and losing his hair. Both led to his demise in the story of Samson and Delilah.
The late British make-up artist Stuart Freeborn designed Yoda's look using Albert Eistein's facial features as well as his own. Frank Oz voiced Yoda for all five films he appeared in and was the character's puppeteer for episodes V, VI and I. Episodes II and III converted Yoda into a CGI format.
