Matthieu Thistlehunter

Matthieu is tall, broad-shouldered, stoutly built, as strong as an ox and very nearly as smart. His skin is fair and reddened by the sun; his hair is flaxen, his face is broad, cheery and guileless. He wears a homespun shirt and doeskin breeches.
One day when he was a lad, clearing a patch of thistles on a hill, one of the thistles seized his ankle and started to pull. Matthieu was frightened out of his wits, but he struck with his mattock at whatever was clutching his ankle until it weakened, then jumped back. He tumbled down the rocky slope, banging his head and knees and shoulders, then picked himself up and ran for home. His father and uncles said it must have been a goblin that grabbed him, but Matthieu has never seen a goblin, and he knows thistles are evil and just waiting to get you.
Now, when he sees a thistle plant, he'll sneak up until he gets close to it, then suddenly attack it with his trusty mattock. He's slain many a thistle now.