Steering, rule, governance — from the steering-oar: the hand on the thing that decides where the whole vessel goes. Old Norse, stjórn. Direction as an act, never as an office.
Old Norse stjórn (steering, government, rule), from stýra (to steer), the same root behind a ship's steering-oar; the words for governing a nation and for steering a vessel were never two words.
The hand on the thing that decides where the whole vessel goes. Direction held as an act performed continually, never as an office simply occupied.