A prickle from the north (5)
I believe the answer is:
thorn
'a prickle' is the definition.
(I know that prickle can be written as thorn)
'from the north' is the wordplay.
'from' indicates an anagram (the anagram comes from the same letters).
'north' is an anagram of 'THORN'.
(Other definitions for thorn that I've seen before include "Something 20 [SHARP]" , "Pointed growth" , "Plant spine; old letter" , "Spine - prickle - Old English runic letter" , "Prickle; annoyance" .)