To bring back to mind. Its root is calling back — recall is a summoning rather than a retrieval.
Re- (Latin, again) attached to call, from Old Norse kalla, related to Old English ceallian; recall names a summoning back rather than a simple retrieval, the same calling-out used to bring anything within earshot.
To bring something back to mind. The root's calling is the right image: recall is a summoning, not a lookup, and what answers a summons is never guaranteed to arrive whole.