Englabörn

Englabörn was written for a play by Hávar Sigurjónsson and released by Touch in 2002 as his first full-length album. Jóhannsson recorded string instruments and processed them through digital filters, which let him take the recordings apart and put them back together. The Ethos String Quartet and the percussionist Matthías Hemstock play with him on piano, organ, harmonium, glockenspiel and electronics.

Andy Beta reviewed it for Pitchfork in March 2003 and gave it 8.9. He wrote that the strings carry a light gauze of electronic processing and that the album opens with a computer voice reciting Catullus' poem Odi et Amo. He described Jói & Karen as exceptionally restrained, with the piano moving like droplets off slowly melting icicles, and compared Sálfræðingur to Moondog. Odi et Amo - Bis slows the opening recitation almost to a standstill. 4AD reissued the album in 2007, and Deutsche Grammophon released Englabörn & Variations in 2018. He played several of its pieces at his 2009 Rotterdam concert.