From Old English 'nearu' (confined, oppressive) — originally not just small width but suffocating constriction.
Of small width in relation to length; limited in extent, amount, or scope.
From Old English 'nearu' (narrow, confined, constricted, oppressive), from Proto-Germanic *narwaz, meaning 'narrow, tight.' The PIE root is likely *sneru- or *(s)ner- meaning 'to turn, to twist, to contract,' suggesting the original image was of something twisted or drawn tight. The word carried strong connotations of physical constriction and psychological oppression in Old English — a narrow place was a dangerous, suffocating place. Key
In Old English poetry, 'nearu' meant not just physically narrow but psychologically oppressive. In Beowulf, the hero faces 'nearoþearfe' — 'narrow-need,' meaning dire distress. The Narrows of a harbor or strait (as in the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York) preserves the old substantive use, where a narrow place was a place of danger and constriction.